Euphoria
by HikaruHitachiin1957
Summary: After three years of being sober, Hikaru has fallen back into his addiction. While trying to help his brother, Kaoru meets a girl who has been in a similar situation as him and might be able to help Hikaru and maybe even help him stay clean. Rated M for Lemons and Drug Use. HikaruxHaruhi
1. Prologue

The pure bliss that a single thing can give you is amazing, even if it's only for a few seconds. You feel like you can do anything no matter how difficult or impossible it might seem, and you never back down from a challenge. But the best part is that all your worries seem to just disappear, even if it's only for a single second, and that's the most addicting part.

…

I straightened my tie as I looked over my appearance in the mirror. Alright, I look good. My hair was styled neatly, I looked well-rested. My black suit was neatly pressed and made me look clean, and my eyes didn't seem to give off any indication of what I did earlier today, so I was pretty much ready.

"Come in." I said as someone knocked on my door.

Kaoru opened the door, wearing a matching suit but in navy blue, and smiled at me. "Mom's waiting for us in the limo to take us to dinner for our successful magazine interview. She wanted me to tell you to hurry up."

"I'll be down soon," I reassured, giving him an identical smile, "just let me spray on some cologne."

Kaoru nodded and left my room, once the door closed I let my smile fall. It was starting to get hard keeping up this facade to my family. It's only been a couple of weeks, but it feels almost a lifetime of me hiding it, but I didn't plan to tell them anytime soon, because I knew they'd be disappointed in me.

I let out a tired sigh and headed over to the bathroom, closing the door just in case Kaoru or any of the house staff decided to enter my room. Instead of reaching for my cologne that was next to the sink on the counter and opened the medicine cabinet, reaching for a prescription bottle. I popped a few of the pills in my mouth before cupping some water in my hands from the running faucet and swallowed them down. I leaned over the counter, letting the pills take effect. I had no idea what the fuck these pills were, I just got them from a shoot the other day from a model, but they took effect real quick and lasted for a decent amount of time, so I knew I wouldn't crash until after the dinner was over.

I took a deep breath before standing straight up as the high took effect. All the pain and problems I had seemed to just disappear all at once and I just felt total bliss. A feeling I had gotten used to after many years. I looked back at my reflection, seeing it began to sway as I began to see double vision, but as I blinked a bit my vision seemed to steady itself after a few moments. I grabbed my cologne and sprayed it over me so Kaoru wouldn't be suspicious why I was taking so long.

"Alright," I sighed out, not taking my eyes off my reflection, "let's get this fucking over with."

* * *

Laughter filled the dining room of whatever five-star restaurant we were in. Mom had invited some of her fashion friends and Kaoru had brought some of our acting a modeling friends...but I had no idea which ones at this point. I was just too focused on how fast time was going. It felt like everything was fast-forwarding while I was the only one moving at normal speed.

I counted each breath I took in and out, making sure I was breathing and in fear that if I didn't, my heart would stop beating. I stared down at my grilled salmon, poking it with my fork as I dissected it as if it were a foreign object. It might've been just a piece of fish, but it was the most interesting shit to me at that moment.

I felt someone grab my shoulder, tearing me away from my studying and saw Kaoru smiling at me, but wasn't saying anything. I furrowed my eyebrows confused, wondering what he wanted as he continued to smile at me.

"Come on, tell them Hikaru."

I blinked a bit, trying to bring myself back to reality. "Huh?"

"Tell them about the recent movie that you did." He nudged me with his elbow. "They want to hear how it was filming it."

"Oh, uh…" I looked over at all our "friends" smiling at me, waiting for me to answer.

I scratched at the table cloth anxiously as they all stared at me. Could they tell? When I left home I didn't look like I was high in the mirror, but that was a few hours ago so I could look completely different now.

_'Just smile, they won't notice anything if you just act natural.'_

I gave them the best fake smile I could muster before finally giving them an answer. To be honest, I didn't remember what I told them, just random shit that my brain could pick out in the state I was in. Even though I didn't remember what I said, they seemed to enjoy my answer and laughed at some comments that I said, so that was a good sign.

After the conversation finally ended, Kaoru took over again, probably talking about the recent movie he was working on, or the shot we had last week. I began picking at my food again, finally beginning to eat as it was beginning to grow cold. How long have we had our food? There was no way it should be cold now, but by looking at how almost everyone was almost done with their entrees it must've been almost an hour. People probably didn't anything because I was cutting up my food into small bits and looked like I was eating it. I ate a couple of forkfuls, but I was too nervous to keep anything down. I knew it was a bad idea to take those pills before dinner, but I hadn't had anything since this morning and I was craving them and I knew I wouldn't last all the way through dinner.

…

A few more hours passed and I was beginning to grow agitated. I didn't know dinner would last this fucking long. I could feel the effect of the crash hitting me like a train and I knew in a matter of minutes I'd be exhausted to the point I wouldn't be able to finish dinner, or my mood might change drastically that everyone at the table might notice something is up.

Luckily, I brought in some reinforcement in my suit jacket just in case I needed it, and by how lively the conversation still was and the dessert was on its way I knew we'd be here for an hour or two longer, and I couldn't risk having a bad crash now.

I nudged Kaoru to get his attention as I whispered. "I'm going to the restroom." Kaoru nodded and I excused myself from the table and headed to the restroom. As I entered the men's room, I was relieved that no one was in there, but I'd have to hurry so no one would walk in on me.

I walked into the handicap stall and locked the door, then once I made sure the lock was secure I reached into the pocket of my suit jacket to grab the small bag I brought, but to my horror, it was gone.

What the fuck? I remembered putting the bag in this morning, there's no way I could've forgotten it. I even made sure to set a reminder on my phone to make sure I didn't forget it. Maybe I put it in one of my other pockets and forgot about it, that's happened a few times in the past but only when I was really high.

I began searching my other pockets, but the result was still nothing. Now I was beginning to panic. I needed those drugs to keep up this act and to make sure my family doesn't find out I relapsed after three years. They're going to be so fucking pissed with me and I couldn't handle that right now. My life was already fucked up as it is right now.

"Fuck!" I punched the stall door. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

I ran a frustrated hand through my hair as I tried to find an excuse to tell why I needed to go home early. I had a cold at the end of last week, so I could use the excuse I still wasn't feeling well and request the driver to take me home and just sleep off the crash.

I let out a sigh, feeling the effects already begin to hit me harder. I needed to get home soon. I unlocked the stall door, but as I headed over to the sink to spray some water on my face to keep awake, I saw Kaoru leaning up against the counter with his arms folded over his chest with a serious expression on his face.

"Oh, hey Kaoru. How long have you been there?"

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Only for a few minutes, that's all." He cocked his head to the side a bit. "You sounded like you were rummaging through something in there. Everything all right?"

"Uh, yeah," I responded, clearing my throat awkwardly, "just looking for something."

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "Oh really?" I nodded and he reached into the inside pocket of his suit. "Was this what you were looking for?"

I could literally feel my blood go cold as Kaoru pulled out the small bag of white powder from his jacket, the one I packed in my suit this morning. I felt my mouth go dry and tried swallowed the lump in my throat. clenching my hands into shaking fists.

"Where did you get that?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"You really didn't think that I wouldn't have noticed how you've been acting differently these past few weeks? How you're isolating yourself in your room like you used to do. How you're suddenly energized one moment, then the next time I see you you're so exhausted you can barely walk?" He pointed to his eye. "And did you really think I wouldn't notice how dilated your eyes were. You must think I'm fucking stupid."

"Who else knows?" I asked, feeling my heart began to beat faster with each passing moment.

"No one right now. I had to find some proof to confirm my suspicions so when you weren't in your room I searched your suit." He held up the bag again, "and found the proof that I needed." His expression softened a bit and turned doleful. "I thought we got you off this shit years ago when we turned twenty? You know it ruins your life, so why-"

"I know!" I harshly barked, but Kaoru didn't flinch at all. "Don't you think that wasn't the first damn thing I thought about?!"

"Then tell me why are you doing them again, huh?" Kaoru glared as he walked closer to me, but kept a good five feet gap between us. "If you knew that this shit will not only hurt you but all of us, why are you fucking back on them?!"

I clenched my fists harder, almost to the point that my nails were breaking skin. Even though I felt cold, my body began sweating from all the emotions I was feeling at that moment. I thought I would be able to hide my relapse a lot longer than just a few weeks. Yes, I was disappointed in myself that I started doing drugs again, but with all the stress and being surrounded by them in the industry I just gave in.

"Please, just give them back…" I quietly begged.

Kaoru let out a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah right, and let you ruin your life. I don't think so. In fact," he brushed past me and headed inside the stall I was in before.

"What are you doing?" I panicked as I followed him, stopping at the door. He didn't answer me and went over to the toilet and held the bag over the bowl to my horror. "Kaoru, don't you dare!"

He just gave me a smug smirk before letting the bag go. My eyes followed the bag as it left his hand and fell into the water and he put his foot on the flush handle, taunting me.

"Don't!" I hissed, which only hit deaf ears as he stared into my eyes with a challenging stare before flushing the toilet. "You fucking bastard!"

I ran over to attack him, but as I tried to lay a punch on him he dodged out of the way, then grabbed my arm before twisting it as he got behind me so my arm was locked and placed his free hand behind my neck to pull me down, placing his knees on my lower back and my head so I wouldn't be able to move as he continued to hold my arm.

"I still got it." Kaoru complemented himself.

I knew that there would be no point in fighting his restraint. The position I was in and how fatigued I felt now, I knew I wouldn't be able to stand a chance against him. Tears began welling up in my eyes as I grew ashamed at myself. This wasn't the first time I've tried to attack my brother over this addiction, I've done it multiple times to every one of my family members, and even to some of the staff. It got so bad that Kaoru actually had one of our friends teach him how to restrain me when I got out of hand and got violent.

"Please don't tell mom and dad…" I pleaded in a brittle voice.

"Don't worry, I'm not." Kaoru responded to my relief. "I don't want to ruin the night for them, but tomorrow," his voice grew serious as he began to help me up, still keeping me somewhat restrained, "we're checking you back into rehab to get you clean."

* * *

**Ok, so I know what most of you are thinking and I want to make it clear. No, I did not take this idea from Zendaya's new show. I didn't even know of the show until I was looking up how to spell Euphoria and saw that there was a new show called that. I had this idea about a year ago while listening to some Selena Gomez song (It's a weird way to come up with a story, I know) and it just came to me, but I never got down to writing it because I have a whole bunch of other stories that I'm writing at the moment (I know, but two are on hiatus because I have writers block and ideas for this story kept flooding my brain) so I decided to release the prologue of this story. ****I don't have HBO sow I haven't watched the show at all, so I have no idea what happens except how the character does drugs and falls for a girl.**

**Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the prologue like I said before I do have other stories that I do have to write, but I want to update this one a bit in the future. I'm sorry I also haven't been updating that much, I had surgery a few weeks ago and been recovering so that's the main reason I wanted to start writing this story to let time pass. I have school in about a week and a half (boo) but hopefully, it won't distract me from updating.**

**Thanks for taking time out of your day to read this.**

**Please Review, Favorite, and Follow. Until next time.-HH1957**


	2. Chapter 1

**Kaoru**

_**Four days later…**_

Kaoru exited his car with a deep sigh before adjusting his sunglasses. He looked over at the rehab center as he leaned against his door. It has been his morning routine for the past few days to visit his brother for about an hour or two before going off to do some errands or a job, then visiting Hikaru again before visiting hours were over, even if Hikaru didn't want to see him.

He closed the door to his car before locking it and began making his way to the entrance. As he entered, the nurse at the desk looked up from her computer and smiled at Kaoru as he walked in. While Hikaru was in rehab a few years ago, Kaoru had gotten to know the staff pretty well since he was there almost every day. He may have not seen them for a few years, but they were happy to see him again, just wishing it was under different circumstances.

"Hello Kaoru," the middle-aged woman greeted him with a motherly smile, "how are you this morning?"

"I'm quite alright Eshima." Kaoru smiled back as he removed his glasses. "How's Hikaru doing?"

"Well, he didn't yell at any of the staff last night after you left, or thrown anything. But today is a new day, so let's see what happens."

"He's been a real handful when I'm gone, huh?"

"Yeah, but I won't hold anything against him. It's the withdrawals that are making him act this way." She took a few moments to finish typing out what she was working on the computer before standing up. "Alright, since I have to wake some patients up, I'll accompany you to his room."

Eshima lead Kaoru through the halls of the rehab center. The center was pretty luxurious, and on the outside, it almost looked like a mansion with marble columns near the entrance and the back door that matched the fountain that was in the center of the long driveway that was blocked off by a black gate. In the inside it looked exactly like a five-star hotel with it cleans wooden floors and raindrop chandler in the foyer. Plush furniture filled each room where patients that were already up were either conversing with each other or just minding their own business. There was a huge gym with almost every machine for exercise Kaoru could think off and there was also a huge pool in the back that looked over the beautiful countryside. Hell, there was even a game room here. Kaoru was almost jealous he wasn't allowed to stay here, but even though this place was beautiful, a lot of pain did happen here while the patients were in treatment. But that was the beginning steps to recovery.

Once they made it to his brother's room, Eshima handed Kaoru a couple of pills. "Make sure he takes these. They'll help the pains from the withdrawals. Then once he's dressed make sure he gets some breakfast. He's been trying to skip it for the past two days."

"Yes ma'am." Kaoru gave her a small salute.

Eshima smiled and handed him the medication before walking away to wake up the other patients. Kaoru pocketed the pills into his coat pocket before walking up to the door to Hikaru's room. He didn't bother knocking as he entered and walked over to Hikaru's bed. The rooms here were just like hotel suites, matching the aesthetic of the whole center, with a comfy queen size bed on a mahogany bed frame with fluffy white pillows and blankets. Matching mahogany nightstands were on each side of his bed and a dresser against the wall across from the bed, with a plasma TV just above it.

The room was quiet, the only sound was from the air conditioning that was making the room chill. Kaoru stopped at the foot of his brother's bed and just watched him sleep for a few moments. He was lying on his stomach with the blanket up to his bare mid-back. He had his arms underneath his pillows to prop it up as he slept on it. Kaoru smiled at him, he looked so peaceful. It would be a shame if someone woke him up…

"Get up!" Kaoru loudly said as she smacked his brothers rear. "It's eight o'clock, time to get ready for the day."

Hikaru groaned and shoved his face into his pillow as Kaoru opened the curtains, letting in the refreshing, bright morning sun fill the room. When Hikaru refused to get up, Kaoru grabbed the blanket and pulled it off him, making him curl up into a ball.

"Come on, get up."

"Mmmuck off." Hikaru grumbled in the pillow.

"Aww, that's not very nice."He flopped down on his brother, giving him a hug. "Come on, you can't sleep all day." Hikaru tried to push Kaoru off, but he just swatted his hands away. "If you don't get up I'll force you to, and I know you don't want me to push you off the bed when you're already in pain."

"Fine, I'm up."

"Great," Kaoru hopped off the bed and watched as Hikaru slowly sat up, running a hand through his disheveled hair. He winced as the sun hit his eyes and placed a hand on his head, scrunching his nose as more pain hit him. Kaoru took the pills Eshima gave him earlier and handed them to Hikaru. "Here, for the withdrawal pains."

Hikaru let out a deep breathe through his nose before taking the pills from Kaoru and reaching over to his water bottle on the nightstand. "Thanks."

"No problem, just hurry up and get dressed so we can so we can get you some breakfast."

…

Kaoru placed a plate of homemade blueberry pancakes in front of Hikaru before sitting across from him as he unwrapped a muffin for himself, that he said he was going to give to his twin but lied.

"So~" Kaoru smiled as he took the paper off his muffin, "how are you feeling this morning?"

"What do you think?" Hikaru mumbled as he poked at his pancakes with his fork. "My body feels like it's trying to kill itself. I barely got any sleep last night because I couldn't stop having cold sweats and shaking, and I almost puked five times within thirty minutes before finally passing out for two hours before you rudely woke me up." He glared up at his younger brother. "Thanks for that by the way."

"No problem." He took a bite of his muffin. "By the way, before I forget to tell you. Once mom and dad return from France, they want to talk to you about your relapse."

"Great," he huffed as he began cutting into his pancakes, but still refusing to eat them, "I really don't want to deal with them yelling at me for relapsing. I already got enough shit from them when you told them when they got home from dinner a few nights ago."

"I wouldn't worry about that." Kaoru tried to reassure. "When you got admitted I was talking to Eshima and she told me to not be so hard on you. Addiction is a disease that a lot of people overlook and think is a choice. Yes, it was your choice for you to take the drug in the first place, even if you were pressured to, but you becoming an addict wasn't. She also said that a lot of people do relapse, especially people in the industry like us because we're surrounded by them." His smile fell and he propped his cheek in his hand. "If I may try to ask again, what got you back into taking them?"

Hikaru shrugged his shoulders, still picking at his food. Kaoru has been trying to get an answer out of him for the past few days and Hikaru refused to give him an answer. He was most likely ashamed of himself and didn't want to tell Kaoru. All he knew was that Hikaru had gotten stressed and someone gave him a pill to take, but he wouldn't go farther than that.

Kaoru sighed as he grabbed his water and lifted it to his lips. "Look, I said I'm not going to pressure into telling me right now, but I would like to know what was making you so stressed that made you go back to taking that shit-"

"I wasn't thinking." Hikaru finally answered in a weak voice, refusing to look at Kaoru. "I was working late on the shot for mom's newest denim line and with the movie premiere the next day, and the multiple interviews scheduled that week, I had an anxiety attack in the makeup trailer. I know that we've been doing this for years, but it sometimes still gets overwhelming. One of the female models walked in on me panicking and said she could give me something to calm down and handed me a random pill." He squished the piece of pancakes he cut off with his fork until it was almost mush before pushing it around. "I told her I didn't need it so she just left it on the table as she left just in case I changed my mind. After an hour of not calming down, I took it, and within a matter of seconds I felt a million times better and…"

"And you wanted to keep feeling that way until all the stress was gone, but by that time you became addicted again." Kaoru finished, which Hikaru slowly nodded to. "Hikaru, I completely understand how you felt. I get overwhelmed with everything that gets thrown at us too. I think every celebrity does, but you shouldn't confide in something so detrimental. Especially how you almost had an overdose that brought you here last time."

"I know…"

They were silent for a few moments as Kaoru finished his muffin and Hikaru finally began eating his food but only seemed to be able to stomach a few bites before pushing it away from him.

"So," Kaoru finally broke the silence, "the other thing I wanted to tell you is that I won't be able to visit you this evening."

"Why not?" Hikaru's expression fell. He may have been annoyed when Kaoru visited because he was in a lot of pain and Kaoru was so upbeat, even more so to just get Hikaru angry, but he did enjoy his brother visiting. In his _'grumpy state'_, which Kaoru called it, he said Kaoru made it more bearable being this_ 'fucking hell hole of overly positive people'_, but he knew that his brother was just being dramatic.

"I have a shoot to go to this afternoon, then, later on, this evening I have dinner with that interviewer we scheduled last month and I have to pretend to be you so it won't get out how you relapsed. You remember all the bad press that happened when _she_ sold you out." Kaoru's words were like venom.

"I know, don't remind me." He huffed, obviously not wanting to talk about_ that_.

Kaoru plaster on a fake smile to try and brighten the mood. "But don't worry, I'll be sure to make my visit tomorrow twice as long, and maybe we can play a game of pool in the game room between your therapy sessions."

"You suck at pool."

"And you suck at life."

Immediately Kaoru brought his hand to his mouth, instantly regretting what he just said. Usually, he and Hikaru did jokingly insult each other all the time, but they calmed it down whenever it wasn't the right time or place for it. Especially if it was a sore subject. But his worries instantly disappeared once he saw Hikaru smirk at him.

"Fuck you."

The smile returned to his face as it felt like a small weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He was so worried that he would've caused Hikaru to grow depressed and closed himself off again since Kaoru brought up the subject of his drug use while it was still raw, but seeing Hikaru was somewhat joking along, Kaoru could see he was actually starting to feel better. It might be slow, but he's beginning to recover again. Kaoru looked over at the clock on the wall, a little surprised to see how much time has passed.

"Shit, it's already 8:55. Your first therapy session starts in a few minutes."

"Ugh."

"I can see that you're excited about it." Kaoru chuckled.

"You try having three to four therapy sessions a day, and most of them are group sessions where you have to talk about your _'feelings'_ to each other and be so optimistic that it's sickening. At least the individual sessions I'm just with a therapist and don't have to hear for the thirtieth time this week about how Kayo had to give up her kids to her ex-husband due to her_ 'small heroin usage'_ and thinks she doesn't have a problem and she can stop anytime she wanted to."

"Hmm, sounds like someone else I know."

"Yeah, cause I definitely lost my kids to my ex-husband due to my heroin addiction."

"That's not what I meant stupid." Kaoru rolled his eyes. "I remember when you first started back when we were eighteen, you said you weren't addicted and could stop anytime you wanted to, but just didn't want to."

"I said that when I was high. That doesn't count."

"You still said it though. So it had to mean something."

Hikaru just shrugged his shoulders, toying with the napkin that was on his food tray. "I mostly said that because I didn't want you all to worry about me. I knew I had a problem and was finally admitting it to myself, but I didn't want to admit it to all of you yet, even though you all could already tell." He looked back at Kaoru, mustering the best smile he could at that moment. "But I'm no Kayo."

Kaoru laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "Ok, you're nothing like her."

Hikaru let out a small muffled chuckle, but his smile immediately disappeared when he saw Eshima walking towards their table.

"Time to wrap things up, gentlemen. Group therapy is about to start."

"Thank you Eshima, he'll be over there soon."

Eshima gave a nod before walking off to tell the other patients the same thing. Hikaru huffed and placed his head in his hand, taking his precious time to get up and head over there, but Kaoru knew just what to do to get him to go.

"Aww," Kaoru gushed as he got up and wrapped Hikaru into a big hug, rocking him back and forth, "does my baby brother want me to walk him to therapy?"

"Baby brother? I'm two minutes older than you. Now get off of me!" He growled as he began to try to push his brother off. "People are staring!"

"Let them," he cooed, rubbing his cheek in his brother's hair, "they'll just see how much I care about my brother."

"The rocking is making me sick, stop!"

"What's the magic word?"

"I'm going to puke all over you if you don't fucking let me go!"

"Close enough." He separated from his brother, giving him a sweet smile as a now paler looking Hikaru laid his head in his hands as he calmed his nausea down. Even though his brother was still highly irritable, this time he didn't fully lash out at him like last time or threaten to throw something sharp at his head if he didn't leave him alone. "Alright," he slapped Hikaru hard on the back, making him groan, "let's get you to therapy."

Before Hikaru could protest, Kaoru grabbed his arm and yanked him up, and before his brother could even catch his balance he began dragging him to the therapy room, going so fast that Hikaru was tripping over his own feet to keep up with Kaoru.

Once he handed Hikaru off, he gave him another tight hug before wishing him off, which Hikaru just responded by flipping him off. When his twin disappeared into the room, Kaoru checked the time on his watch, he had to be at his shoot in about an hour. It was supposed to be with the both of them but their mom decided to just have Kaoru model for both outfits, which meant he was going to be there about twice as long than he intended to. He already felt exhausted just thinking about the long day ahead of him.

He let out a tired sigh and was about to turn to leave when he suddenly bumped into someone carrying a few boxes. He helped the petite brunette stable the boxes in her arms from falling before the girl looked up passed the boxes at Kaoru with her soft brown eyes.

"Sorry," she apologized as she readjusted the boxes in her arms, "I didn't see you there."

"It's no problem," Kaoru reassured, "I should have watched where I was going."

The girl looked him up and down, then furrowed her brow at him as if she was confused, making Kaoru confused as well and a little self-conscious about the way she was looking at him. Was she a fan of him? If she was then why was the way she looking at him made him feel like straight-up shit? As if he committed a horrible crime. Maybe she was one of those "haters" that say they were ugly and can't act.

_'Ooh a hater, I always wanted to meet one in real life. I've played so many scenarios in my head for years and now I can finally use one without looking like a jackass. Lay it on me woman.'_

Kaoru slowly matched her glare, trying his best not to smirk because of how funny he thought the situation was.

"Hey, aren't you the guy who I bumped into yesterday and told me to watch where I was going?"

Kaoru's glare fell and grew confused again. "Huh?"

"Yeah, you are." The girl's expression grew furious. "You even called me a fucking bitch after I apologized to you."

Kaoru just blinked, trying to remember if he was rude to anyone this past week besides his own...brother...HIS BROTHER!

"Hikaru," he groaned and began rubbing his temples as he felt an irritated induced headache come on.

"Huh?"

"Oh, Haruhi," Eshima called out, turning both of their attentions to the nurse as she walked up to them, "are those the supplies that Ruri called me about that you were going to pick up?"

"Yeah, sorry I didn't greet you at the door. You were busy with some patients and I didn't want to get in the way of that."

"Oh, it's no problem hun," Eshima smiled warmly, waving off her apology, "it's nothing to worry about. I also see that you've met Kaoru. Isn't he the sweetest?"

"More like sour to me." Haruhi mumbled.

Eshima looked up at Kaoru, not understanding what Haruhi meant and Kaoru let out a sigh. "She bumped into Hikaru yesterday and he lashed out at her, and she thinks he's me."

"Oh," Eshima finally understood and smiled back at a lost looking Haruhi, "that sour guy you bumped into, that's Kaoru's twin brother Hikaru. Kaoru is the sweet twin."

"Oh stop Eshima, you flatter too much." Kaoru playful waved off her comment as if he was embarrassed. He then gave Haruhi an apologetic smile. "Sorry about my brother's rudeness, he's suffering from withdrawal so try not to take it to heart. He's actually a nice guy...most of the time. He's just in a lot of pain right now, but I'm sorry he lashed out at you."

"No, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you had a twin." Haruhi apologized. "If I knew I wouldn't have yelled at you."

"It's quite alright, don't worry about it. I'm used to taking the heat from Hikaru's stupid actions because we're identical." He chuckled lightly. "But I'll make sure to lecture him for being an asshole to you."

"Language Kaoru." Eshima reminded.

"I'm sorry, 'an anus'."

A smile touched Haruhi's lips. "Thanks, I appreciate that a lot."

Haruhi said goodbye to the two before taking her leave and Kaoru began wondering something. What was Haruhi doing here in the first place? Eshima said she was picking up supplies for someone named Ruri so she couldn't be a patient here because they weren't allowed to be in the back room because all the medicine was back there. Could she be a new employee here? She didn't have a name tag so maybe she just got hired or just lost it.

"Is she a new employee?" Kaoru asked.

"Haruhi?" Eshima questioned. "Oh no. She just volunteers at the more affordable rehab center further in the city and has been picking up supplies to take there since the same medical company owns both centers. She volunteered there to help pay off the rehab medical bills she had."

"Oh, so she was a user before?"

"Not her, but her father was, well, he was an alcoholic." Her smile turned doleful. "A couple years ago, my friend Ruri, the lead head nurse there told me about Haruhi and her father. They were very poor and couldn't afford the medical bill with just her low salary. She even tried to get another job to help pay off the bills, but sadly no one would hire her. Ruri felt awful seeing that poor girl drop out of college to work full time and take care of her dad, so she offered Haruhi to work there to help them with some tasks to pay off her debt. In a year she was able to pay it off, but decided to keep volunteering because she actually enjoyed helping people." Her smile turned back to warm as she watched Haruhi finish up a conversation with another nurse before walking out the door. "She told me that if she does go back to college she wants to go into nursing to become a rehabilitation nurse, and with her being so strong-willed, I know she can do it." She looked back up at Kaoru, patting his arm. "You'd like her. She's a really great girl."

Kaoru glanced over at the door Haruhi exited from as Eshima walked away. Even though they have met only briefly, he could tell that she was a kind girl, even though she did yell at him at the beginning, but that didn't matter. It seemed like they could get along really well if they had enough time to get to know each other.

And who knows, maybe she could get along with some else as well. Someone who would need someone as strong-willed as her.


	3. Chapter 2

**Hikaru**

_**Three weeks later…**_

I stared down at my reflection in a mirror that was placed down on the soft cushioning of an open casket that the rehab decided to bring in today for our lesson in our group therapy session. It was supposed to be a message to us about how if we don't stop abusing drugs we were going to end up in a casket real soon. When they first showed me this when I was twenty it scared the living shit out of me and I never wanted to touch any type of drug ever again in fear of dying, but now it wasn't really affecting me as much.

I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket and made my way back to my seat.

"Alright," the group leader named Hiro said as he stood up from his chair, "Now that you all saw what was inside the coffin what do you think today's lesson is about?" He looked around at all the patients, no one raising their hands and refusing to make any eye contact with him.

Really? No one wanted to answer his stupid question? I could understand that some people are shy but this is fucking ridiculous. Hell, half of these fucking people were celebrities who have to be in the public eye every day, so they have no excuse to be quiet.

When a few more moments passed and still no one answered I rolled my eyes before lazily raising my hand.

"Yes, Hikaru." He smiled when he saw my hand.

"It means that if we don't get over our addictions we could be the one in that coffin."

"Correct."

Hiro began going in-depth about today's lesson and I began to tune him out as I played with the four-week clean chip that I had in my hand. They gave these poker chips to patients every week they stayed clean to encourage them. At first, it felt great to know that I have been clean for so long, but since this was my second time here and I would be leaving tomorrow I didn't feel anything. It was just a random green poker chip that had the number four on it.

Soon, Hiro made everyone in the circle stand up one at a time to tell us their names, what their addiction was, and how long they've been clean. It was usually your boring alcoholics and drug people like at every rehab, but there was sometimes an _"exciting"_ day where we had some sex addicts and it was a bit fun to watch them struggle and squirm while sitting next to an attractive patient of the opposite sex, but that was a rare occasion sadly.

Soon it was my turn to talk, yay...I let out a sigh before slowly standing up, placing my hands back in my coat pocket. "Hi, I'm Hikaru."

"Hi, Hikaru."

_'God, I hate when they do that.'_

"I'm twenty-three years old and my addiction was drugs, and I have been here for about a month."

"What type of drugs?" Hiro asked, trying to get me to open up more.

I just shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, whatever I could get my hands on that wasn't a heroin type of shit."

"And why did you start taking drugs in the first place?"

I bit my lip as I began swaying a bit, a little reluctant to answer the question. I didn't want to state how I first got addicted because it brought up bad memories that I didn't want to resurface, and the rehab center already knew how it all happened a few years ago, so there's no reason why I have to state it again. But I knew if I refused to answer the question Hiro would keep pressuring me to because he believed everyone's story could relate and help someone else's.

"An ex-girlfriend." I softly confessed after a few silent moments.

"And how did she you addicted?"

I just shrugged my shoulders, pretending not to know. "I don't remember." I lied. "It was years ago and I blocked those bad memories from my mind."

_'Only if I could.'_

* * *

**Kaoru**

Kaoru checked his watch, seeing that he had thirty minutes before he promised to meet Hikaru and bring lunch to him. He arrived earlier then he expected so he decided to grab a coffee at a local coffee shop and maybe finally look over the lastest script he got because he was too lazy to do it yesterday.

Did he have anything to help him not get noticed by fans, nope? He had an old blue hoodie in the back of his car and sunglasses, but he didn't feel like getting arrested today because a barista thought he was going to rob them.

Maybe another time.

As Kaoru entered the cafe, he was a bit surprised, and relieved, to see the place wasn't too crowded, especially during lunch hour. The only people here were the wannabe screenwriters and the people who were taking advantage of the free wifi. He did get stares and heard people whispering to each other as he walked by, mostly from the screenwriters, but none of them came up to him. He was a little glad he didn't have a crowd of people surrounding him for a picture or an autograph, but he would rather them come up and say hello rather than just stare at him like an exotic animal at the zoo.

"Hello, what can I get for you?"

Kaoru broke the staring contest he was having with a man who was_ 'stealthily'_ trying to take a photo of him, but forgot to turn the flash off, and turned to the brunette barista who looked strangely familiar.

_'Oh my God, where have I seen her before?'_ His eyes traveled down to her name tag that read _'Haruhi'_ and the cogs in his head began turning. _'Haruhi, Haruhi...Oh shit Haruhi!'_

When Kaoru didn't give her an order and just stared at Haruhi as if her skin had suddenly turned blue she frowned. "Sir?"

"I know you!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, you were that girl who my brother called a bitch at the hospital!." He practically yelled, drawing in almost everyone's attention.

Haruhi's cheeks flushed pink and she began shifting her weight from foot to foot as she grew uncomfortable. "Sir, can you please not do this here. My manager is-"

"Haruhi!"

Haruhi jumped as a feminine voice screeched her name and ran over to her, taking the brunette's hands into hers and turned her away as she (not so quietly) whispered to Haruhi about Kaoru in front of him.

"Do you know who that is?" The young blonde questioned, to where Haruhi shook her head slowly. "That's one of the world-famous Hitachiin twins! They're famous for their modeling and movies. How the fuck have you never heard of them?! They're literally everywhere!"

Haruhi looked back over at Kaoru, who was now the one standing awkwardly as the two girls were talking about him and his brother in front of him. He just recognized Haruhi and with him already being overly caffeinated he made a bigger scene than he intended too.

"Oh," Haruhi said as she finally recognized who he was. "Your brother was in the movie adaptation of my favorite book _'Chasing Red.'_ He was amazing in that."

Kaoru smiled at her complement of his twin. "I'll be sure to tell him that. He really enjoyed playing that role."

"You guys are great in all your roles." The blonde butted in, obviously trying to draw in all of Kaoru's attention away from Haruhi. "I've seen all your guys' movies since you started. I'm a huge fan."

"That's great." Kaoru gave her his signature smile, making her almost fainted before he turned back to Haruhi. "Can I have a medium coffee and a brownie, for my brother."

"Sure thing!" The blonde ran off to begin his order as Kaoru gave Haruhi his card to pay.

"Sorry about Miyu." Haruhi apologized as she swiped his card. "She's one of our new employees and is a bit over-energetic."

"Don't worry about it. I've been in the business since I graduated high school, so I'm used to it by now." He put his card back in his wallet before pocketing it. "Anyways, if I may ask when do you go on break?"

"Uh, in about five minutes. Why do you ask?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to get to know you. Eshima said you're a great girl and suggested we try to be friends. Only if you're ok with that."

"Sure...I, uh, guess. Just wait a few minutes then I'll meet you outside."

"Sure thing." Kaoru winked.

…

"So, uh, what did you want to talk about?" Haruhi asked as she took a seat across from Kaoru.

Kaoru smiled at her, tracing the cap of his coffee cup with his finger. "So, Eshima told me you're trying to become a rehabilitation nurse, is that correct?"

"Yeah, ever since I saw how much my dad was suffering through his alcohol abuse I knew I needed to help him. I'm grateful for the head nurse at his rehab center to let me work there because I got to help my dad and pay for the bills at the same time." A small sweet smile appeared on her lips. "Seeing him get better each day with my help made me so happy and felt like I accomplished something I knew I would never feel being a lawyer. So, I decided to change career paths so I can try to help more people who were in my dad's situation."

"Oh, so you wanted to be a lawyer first?"

Haruhi nodded. "Yes, my mother was a lawyer before she passed away."

Kaoru's smile fell, now feeling like a piece of shit for bringing up the topic, even though he had no idea about her mother. "Oh, I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," Haruhi waved off his apology, "It's not your fault that she passed away, so there's nothing to be sorry about."

"If I may ask, how did she pass?"

"Cancer," Haruhi replied as if she had said it multiple times before. "The doctors caught it too late and it was already beginning to spread through her bloodstream. In a year no amount of chemo was helping and she passed away."

"How old were you?"

"Four, almost five. I was very young but I remember almost everything about her passing."

"Is that why your father started drinking?"

Haruhi nodded, a hint of sadness in her eyes as she looked down at her coffee, fiddling with the cardboard heat protector. "Yes, he tried to mask his sorrows by drinking, but at first he would only get drunk occasionally whenever he got depressed thinking about her. But when I turned fourteen he got a job at a bar and he started coming home drunk every night. Then nights soon turned into mornings, then after working there for two years I rarely ever saw him sober." Kaoru couldn't help but notice tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she talked about her father's alcoholism. It almost reminded him how he felt when he first found out how bad Hikaru's drug addiction was. "When I found him on the floor unresponsive after I came home from school I knew I had to do something. Once he got out of the hospital I forced him to go into rehab because I couldn't risk losing my dad to his drinking problem."

"I completely understand how you feel." Kaoru laid his head in his hand, giving her a glum smile. "That's almost the same reason why I put Hikaru in rehab when we were twenty."

"Was he an alcoholic too?" Haruhi asked.

"No, his problem was drugs. He almost had an overdose one night. I walked in on him in his room, laying on his back in on the edge of his bed. At first, I thought he was just really high and was about to leave when I noticed he was having trouble breathing. I had our mom call an ambulance while I attended to him. It still haunts me to this day seeing the look on his face… " Kaoru clenched his jaw to try and hold back the tears that were threatening to spill out. "He looked so scared and clung to me for dear life until the paramedics arrived. The hospital said he didn't overdose, but if he only had a little more of the drug he would've and possibly could've died. The news scared me and my parents so we enrolled him into rehab even though he fought us at first. It took me literally breaking down and threatening to walk out of his life if he didn't go."

"Would you have?"

He shook his head. "No, and he knew that but he didn't want to risk anything so he went and stayed clean for years until just a few months ago. But hopefully this is the only time he'll relapse."

"Hopefully," Haruhi took a sip of her coffee as she looked at her watch, seeing that she had only a few minutes left of her break. "If you don't mind me asking, how did your brother start doing drugs in the first place? Was it the stress of being in the industry?"

"No," Kaoru huffed, beginning to grow angry as he began to think of the person who made his brother the addict he was today, "it was an ex-girlfriend of his."

"What?" Haruhi asked genuinely shocked. "An ex-girlfriend made him like this?"

"Yes, and it wasn't because of a bad break up or anything like most people would think."

"Then how did she get him addicted to drugs?"

"She…" Kaoru's jaw began to grind, trying not to let his anger be lash out on Haruhi for what that bitch did to Hikaru, ruining his life. He let out a sigh. "It's not my place to tell, but I'll just say she fucked him over. Real bad."

Haruhi just gave a slow nod, Kaoru could see that she wanted to know more about why Hikaru's ex and why she was the reason why he started drugs but also understood why Kaoru didn't want to tell his brother's problems.

Kaoru gave her a bright smile, instantly changing the mood. "I like you, we should hang out more."

"Really?" Haruhi questioned. "You want to be friends with me?"

"Yep."

"But why? I mean, you're a fucking big-time celebrity while I'm just a barista who is barely getting minimum wage."

"So," Kaoru chuckled, amused by her reaction, "just because I'm famous doesn't mean I only hang with people who have celebrity status. I'm not that shallow. So, what do you say? Want to be friends with a big-time celebrity so you can brag about it to all your friends?"

Haruhi just sat there perplexed for another few moments before a small smile brushed her lips. "Sure, if you really want to."

"Yeah," Kaoru said as he passed his phone to her to exchange numbers, "and who knows. Maybe you can officially meet Hikaru without him lashing out at you."

Haruhi hummed a laugh. "We'll see."

* * *

You're late." Hikaru grumbled as Kaoru walked up with a take out bag to the table that he was sitting out. "I'm starving."

"Oh hush, I'm only ten minutes late. It's not a big deal." He held up the food he brought in excitement. "I brought food."

"No shit Sherlock, what kind?"

"What do you think?" Kaoru sat across from him and began taking out the food. "Since today is your last day in rehab, I decided to get you a little treat, and myself of course."

Kaoru passed his brother's food to him and immediately his eyes grew bright when he opened the box to see what Kaoru had brought him.

"Ooh," Hikaru smiled as he grabbed the fork Kaoru offered him. "Did you get this from that new five-star Italian restaurant downtown?"

"Yep. and I made sure to get you chicken alfredo because you kept pestering me to get it for you yesterday."

"Hey, you got me it didn't you? So my pestering worked."

"Yeah, yeah just don't get used to it." Kaoru chortled. He began digging into his food, which was the same as his brother's because he began craving the same thing when his brother wouldn't shut up about it. "So, I made a new friend today."

"With who?" Hikaru asked, but seemed more interested in his food rather than the conversation.

"With a girl named Haruhi Fujioka. You know her too."

"I do?" Kaoru nodded at his brother's question. "Where do I know her from? A modeling gig? A movie?"

"Nope, she's not in the entertainment business."

"Than how do I know her?"

"Do you remember when you first came back here a few weeks ago and bumped into a small brunette girl who was most likely carrying boxes?" Hikaru shook his head, not having the slightest clue what Kaoru was talking about. "You were an asshole to her because you were suffering through withdrawal and called her a fucking bitch."

"I called her a fucking bitch?"

"Yeah, pretty rudely too by what she told me."

"Well, if I told her that then it must be true."

"Hey!" Kaoru gave him a stern glare. "Don't be rude. She's actually really nice. You're just a dick."

Hikaru shrugged nonchalantly as he stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork. "Never said I wasn't."

"She's a really nice person Hikaru, just take my word for it. Have I ever lied to you?"

"Yes, plenty of times."

"When?!"

"There was that time where you drunkenly hooked up with that model at a party and still deny it to this day even though I say you two making out while stumbling to a bedroom."

"We didn't hook up!" Kaoru defended himself with a blush heating his face, which Hikaru raised an eyebrow to. "We almost did, but I was so drunk that I threw up before we could do anything."

"Oh, so that's the real reason why that model left and you didn't want to work with her anymore," Hikaru smirked. "I just thought it was because you were bad in bed."

"You better shut the fuck up right now because I know a lot of dirt about you and you know it!"

Hikaru chuckled and raised his hands up in surrender. "Alright, I take it back. You're wonderful in bed."

"Ew, don't say that you're my twin. I don't need any more people writing fanfiction of us being together."

"Then what do you want me to say?"

"Just stop talking about my sex life."

"When was the last time you got laid anyways?"

"..."

"That long?"

"Shut up," Kaoru hissed, his blush darkening. "I'm not a person who just likes to hook up with people. I actually like being in relationships but I'm just too busy right now to be in one." He narrowed his eyes at his brother. "And I don't see you getting laid."

"That's because I'm in rehab stupid."

Kaoru let out a sarcastic laugh. "Or you're just like me and don't really like hooking up with people. The only times you've ever really ever hooked up with anyone was when you were high."

"I hook up with more people than I date."

"That's because you don't date anymore after that bitch screwed your life over."

"Touché." Hikaru agreed as he took a sip of his drink.

"Now can we steer the conversation away from our nonexistent sex lives-"

"Maybe yours is nonexistent."

Kaoru's glare hardened at his brother's smug smirk. "Fine, since you're bedding all the woman you come in contact with, let's just steer away from my nonexistent sex life. I'd much rather talk about something less depressing."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. How are you feeling?"

"Actually, I'm feeling really good." Hikaru smiled, an actually genuine one that Kaoru hasn't seen since before Hikaru relapsed and it made Kaoru happy to see him this way.

When he arrived here about a month ago, Hikaru looked the complete opposite. He looked like he was hit by a train with his pale skin and had dark circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep he was getting from all the withdrawal pains he was having. His attitude was no longer angry with the world and actually would have nice conversations with the staff while before he would just cuss them out. He was back to being the healthy, happy model he was before.

"I'm really glad that you're feeling better Hikaru." Kaoru grinned. "I really am."

* * *

**Hikaru**

"Welcome home." Mom greeted me with a hug as I entered the house after placing my bags down. She gave me a motherly smile as she separated from me and looked me up and down. "You look amazing. I'm so sorry we haven't been able to see you since we left for France a few weeks ago."

"Thanks mom, I'm just really glad to be home."

"Well, you look far better than you did when we last saw you."

"I know, that's what I told him," Kaoru added as he swung his arm around my shoulder. "He looks like a totally different person. Too bad his personality is the same though."

He snickered at his own comment as I playfully elbowed him in the gut. "You're an asshole."

"Language." Mom scolded, but her smile never left her face. "Go help your brother take his bags up to his room Kaoru while I make some reservations for dinner." She gave me one last quick hug. "It's really good to have you back Hikaru."

"Thanks mom."

Once mom left to go make reservations, Kaoru helped me bring my bags to my room. The room looked a lot cleaner since the last time I was here. Granted, the last time I did see it the maids were searching my room for drugs, making a chaotic mess, but how it looked now you wouldn't be able to tell that they turned my room upside down.

Kaoru placed my bag down before turning to me. "Since you're finally home, do you want to get a bite to eat? I have a feeling you don't want to be cooped up in the house since you've been stuck inside the rehab center all month."

I smiled. "Yeah, just let me unpack first. I know that if I don't do it now I'll never get to it."

"Sure thing. Just come get when you're done. I'll be in the living room."

I nodded and Kaoru gave me one last quick smile before leaving, but once the door to my room closed my smile fell. I let out a tired sigh as I rubbed my face with my hands as I sat down on the edge of my bed. I had a horrible night sleep last night because my craving came back and kicked me hard in the face. After the withdrawal pains had ended I barely had any cravings for any kind of drug, but now all of a sudden the day before I leave to go home I get the cravings again, and far stronger than usual. Today it wasn't as bad, but it was still there. I was worried that since I'm technically free to do whatever I wanted now that I was out, I would fall victim to my cravings and go out and get some drugs like I used to and it didn't help that I still knew where my former drug dealer still lived.

_'I just need to get out and be distracted. That's what my therapist said while in rehab. Then hopefully the cravings will subside and I'll be fine.'_

I let out a deep breath before standing up and running a frustrated hand through my hair. I won't let drugs take over my life. Not again.

* * *

_**One month later…**_

A month has passed since I had gotten home and I'd say it's been pretty good for the most part. I still had the occasional cravings, but only if I'm left alone for too long. However, when they did happen they were intense. It had gotten so bad one night that I began searching my room to try and find anything the maids might have missed when they were searching my room, but I couldn't find anything.

I know that if I did find something it would just take me back to square one, but I wasn't thinking, I just needed to be high. Since I couldn't find any drugs in my room and couldn't call for them since I deleted my dealer's number I did anything to try and curb my cravings. I began exercising a lot more at the gym, even when my trainer has left for the day. I would stay until I literally couldn't walk anymore or was on the verge of passing out.

If I couldn't exercise I would find some other substitute to try to satisfy the craving. I would eat a lot more junk food and sweets until I got sick, or drink the strongest alcohol we had until I got drunk, or just smoke a few cigarettes if I wanted to smoke something.

I placed my empty dish in the sink and began rinsing it off since mom let the maids off early today, and I knew she would pester me if I left the dishes in the sink. I could hear the laughter of mom and one of her friends in the living room as they talked, and from how loud they were being I could hear everything they were talking about in the kitchen.

"Oh, how was your surgery Kazue?" Mom asked her friend. "Did it go as smoothly as you had hoped?"

"Yes, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," Kazue replied happily. "However, I'm still having some knee pain from where they cut open and it makes some activities hard to do."

"Have you talked to your doctor? Maybe he can give you some medication to help with the pain."

"I did and he gave me some medication but it's opioids. I'm a little afraid to take them since they're known to be quite addicting, so I'm trying to take them only when the pain is so severe that I can hardly do anything. But I make sure to keep them in my purse at all times just in case."

I immediately halted doing my dishes and looked over towards the living where their voices were coming from before looking towards Kazue's purse that was on the kitchen counter. Immediately I could feel the cravings come back strong from being only a few feet away from the drugs.

_'I could just take a quick peek in her purse to see-No! You are not falling victim to your cravings again!'_

I turned the water off and quickly made my way over to the alcohol cabinet. I knew that this wasn't the healthiest way to cope with this, but it was far better than going back to my addiction. I pulled out a bottle of vodka and hid it in my jacket then made a beeline through the living room to the stairs.

"Hikaru," mom called out to stop me. I gulped and looked over at her, holding the bottle as close to my body as I could so she wouldn't be able to see it. If she knew I was going to get heavily drunk she would know something is up. "Where are you going in such a rush?"

"I uh…" I cleared my throat, trying to hide my inner struggle and the way I was going to cope with it. "I just remembered that my agent was going to call around this time and I don't want to miss it just in case I got any roles."

"Oh, then I don't want to keep you waiting." Mom gave me a proud smile. "I'm really glad that you're finally well enough to go back to work. I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks mom." I smiled back, but it was only half genuine.

I was keeping my promise of staying clean, but for some reason, life was kicking me a lot harder in the gut than it did a few years ago and I knew if she knew of my struggles she would just worry about me and not sleep or do any work until she knew I was ok.

I said my goodbyes to mom and her friend and headed upstairs to my room. Once I was in I took the bottle of vodka out of my jacket and uncapped it before taking a quick swig, wincing by how strong it was. I hated this brand, it tasted like absolute shit, but it was the strongest one we had at the moment. Hopefully, it'll help curb my cravings at least for the night until mom's friend leaves.

…

I began biting my nails as I sat on the edge of my bed, bouncing my leg as I began to grow restless. It has been hours since my cravings began and they haven't subsided in the slightest. They had grown worse. I had refused to leave my room, not even for meals. When mom called me for dinner I just told her I felt too sick to eat, while in reality, I didn't trust myself being in the kitchen with Kazue's purse. I did leave my room once though, but only for a few minutes to get some food when everyone was out on the patio eating dinner.

My room was dark, the only light was from the moon that peeked through the curtains of my window. I wanted this day to just end, but I knew that all the anxiety I felt would make it impossible for me to sleep.

I unscrewed the half-empty vodka bottle and took another drink, no longer feeling the effects of how strong alcohol was.

"Hikaru," I heard Kaoru's voice behind the closed door, accompanied with a knock, "can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure," I grumbled out tiredly.

Kaoru slowly opened the door and stood in the threshold, giving me a sad smile as he saw that I was having some difficulties at the moment.

"How are you feeling?" He asked in a soft, comforting voice. "Mom told me you suddenly began feeling ill." His eyes landed on the bottle that my fingers were loosely holding just above the floor. "Cravings?"

"Yeah, and bad ones too." I sighed out exhausted. "I overheard mom's friend telling her that she had opioids in her purse so I've been forcing myself to stay in here and try to get through the cravings."

Kaoru walked over to my bed as I took another swig from the bottle and sat next to me. "I'm glad you're not giving in to your cravings, but I wish you would substitute it with something far more healthier." He took the vodka bottle from me and took a sip, immediately grimacing. "Woooaaahhh."

"I know, tastes like shit right?" I snickered.

"I don't understand how you could stomach half a bottle of that. I could barely with that one sip."

I shrugged. "Maybe I'm just used to it."

"I don't think that's something to be proud of." His smile returned to his face. "But like I said before, I'm glad you're fighting your cravings, even though they might be difficult right now. Just next time, picking something a little healthier than getting drunk."

"I'll get strippers next time."

"Perfect." Kaoru chuckled before giving me a small pat on the back.

Kaoru shortly left, taking the vodka bottle with him to my disappointment, to let me get some sleep. I got ready for bed rather slowly, as finally the enormous amount of alcohol I drank began affecting me. As I finished brushing my teeth I kept eyeing my medicine cabinet, staring at my reflection in the mirror. I began drumming my fingers on the marble countertop as I bit my lip anxiously. After a minute or so I slowly lifted a shaking hand to open the cabinet, revealing the pain pills that I took from Kazue's purse a few hours ago. I grabbed the pill bottle and just stared down at them, reading the label the best I could as my hand continued to shake.

_'Oxycodone…'_

I used to abuse this when I didn't have any stronger drugs that could satisfy my needs and it was a really good substitute. I didn't want to take it from Kazue's purse, I kept fighting myself on it, saying that I didn't need it and God was just testing me to see if I'd stay clean with drugs being so close. But I guess while I was getting drunk my will wasn't strong enough and the only time I went downstairs getting food, I snatched the pills as well. I haven't taken any of the drugs yet, but they have been taunting me while in the cabinet.

I could feel my mouth water as I slowly undid the cap and saw the white, circular pills. I took one of the small pills out and placed it in the palm of my hand.

_'Just one, then my cravings will go away. I'll just take one…'_

I guess I failed God's test.

...

* * *

**Hey guys, I'm sorry that you guys had to wait a few weeks. I wanted to update a couple of weeks ago but I had a friend that passed away of a drug overdose and I couldn't even look at this story for a few days because it hit home to me, so I worked on and updated my story _Coroner _because the chapter in that story was a lot more light-hearted.**

**Anyways, I'm glad for all the support for this story so much, it makes me motivated to see that you guys actually like reading my writing. I even write in class so I can try and get more updates for you. I am going to go back to work soon, so updates may be a bit slower, but I'll try to have a new chapter of the three that I'm working on every few weeks.**

**I love you guys. Please Favorite, Follow, and Review. Until Next Time.-HH1957 **


	4. Chapter 3

I couldn't fight my cravings anymore, I gave in...I was ashamed that I fell back in only a month after getting sober, but a part of me also didn't give a shit. Whenever I was high I just felt pure bliss and it was as if all the hardships of the world paused for just a few minutes or even hours until the euphoria died down and reality set back in.

It's been a few days since I relapsed again and my family hasn't noticed yet. I've made sure to not be too high when I was around them, only enough to keep me sane. The only person I needed to worry about right now was Kaoru. He has always been able to see right through me, especially whenever I was on drugs so I would have to keep my guard up whenever I was around him.

I took one of the oxycodone pills from the battle and crushed it on the sink counter before taking a small piece of rolled-up paper and inhaling the crushed up substance. The high didn't immediately take effect, but the pain I was having from the cravings went away in a matter of seconds. The high wouldn't be that strong since the dosage I used wasn't that much so I'd be able to go do the errands that Kaoru wanted to do without being obvious. I should be fine for most of the day so he shouldn't be suspicious, and since we'll be gone for a few hours I won't need to bring anything with me.

I let out a long sigh as I ran my hand through my hair, slowly beginning to feel the wonderful effects of the drugs. It was almost a calming effect and that was the most addictive part about drugs for me. The calm, relaxing feeling is nothing I've ever experienced before with anything else, and with all the shit that was going on in my life I got instantly hooked on the feeling. I really did want to stay sober, but I also didn't want the pleasure to ever go away, and even though my family might start to hate me, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.

* * *

**Haruhi**

Haruhi hung up her apron before shrugging on her jacket. Today she was let off early since barely anyone at the shop so once she got home she was going to change into her comfy clothes, grab a big bag of chips and binge watch Nailed It on Netflix until she was sick of watching people fail miserably at making desserts, which would never happen.

She said goodbye to her co-workers and made her way to the door, but as she was reaching in her bag to fetch her keys she didn't notice the person entering the cafe and bumped right into them.

"Sorry," Haruhi apologized as she looked up at the six-foot-tall stranger and immediately recognized that it was Kaoru...or was it?

The man's demeanor was a lot less bright and outgoing, it actually felt the complete opposite. He looked dark and resentful but was hiding it with a neutral expression plastered on his face. This couldn't be Kaoru, even if he got ran over by a bus he would still be bright and cheery on the way to the hospital.

_'This must be his brother Hikaru.'_ Haruhi finally concluded. _'But I thought Kaoru said he was a nice person. By the way, the atmosphere feels around us feels like how it did back at the rehab center when he insulted me.'_

Hikaru raised an eyebrow at her as if he was analyzing her as well, and by him slightly scrunching his nose as if he didn't like what he saw. Only making Haruhi glare up at him.

"Haruhi!" Kaoru greeted happily as he entered the cafe, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Did Hikaru introduce himself properly this time?"

"Wait, this is Haruhi?" Hikaru questioned, looking back down at her in surprise. When Kaoru nodded Hikaru's expression instantly changed from the scowl to a bright smile, but Haruhi couldn't help but feel that it was fake. Almost as if he was hiding something.

"It's great to finally meet you Ms. Fujioka. Kaoru has told me a lot about you."

"And he's told me a lot about you too."

After those words left her mouth, Hikaru's smile seemed to falter a bit as if he knew what Haruhi was hinting at. She could see the slight fire in his eyes as they met hers, instantly telling her that he already hated her.

"Did you just get off of work?" Kaoru asked, breaking her intense stare-off with his twin.

"Yeah, just right now."

"Great," his smile brightened, "would you like to go out to dinner with us? We'll pay."

"We'll?" Hikaru cocked an eyebrow. Finally letting his facade fall.

"Is this the only reason why you guys came to my work? To take me out to dinner?"

"Would you be mad if I said yes?"

"Determines where you plan on taking me."

"Anywhere you like, no matter the price."

She smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. "How about sushi? I know a great place downtown that's pretty fair priced and has great quality fish."

"As long as it doesn't give us food poisoning I'm fine on wherever we go ."

Haruhi could help but hear Hikaru let out a huff, accompanied by a quiet "Aw fuck," as he faced away from the duo but Kaoru didn't seem to notice as he continued chatting as he walked with Haruhi out of the cafe with his brother trailing behind them. She couldn't help but feel that her evening wasn't going to be as relaxing as she hoped for.

…

"No way, she can't be that awful."

"Oh, she's a fucking bitch. All those articles you've seen about her being a sweetheart and charitable are total bull shit. She's the biggest diva you'll ever meet."

"I should've known. I knew that sweet act was too sickening to be real."

Kaoru chuckled as he grabbed another piece of fish with his fork. "She fooled me and Hikaru for quite a bit until we had to film a movie with her. In the first week she fired five assistances, almost had a fistfight with the costume designer, and had a full-blown temper tantrum when the director wouldn't allow her to bring her boyfriend to set because he is known for spoiling everything."

"Wow, that must've been hell for you two."

"Worst nine months of our lives." He smiled over at his brother. "Right Hikaru?"

Hikaru blinked, as if he had broken out of a daydream he was having and looked over at Kaoru and Haruhi, a bit disoriented. Was it just her or did he seem a bit odd?

He gave them a half-smile, seemingly to just play along. "Yeah, totally."

Kaoru went bad to chatting about other celebrities he had bad encounters with but Haruhi couldn't help but steal a couple of glances at his brother, who seemed to be in his own little world. She also began to notice his breathing patterns, it was slow as if he was counting each breath he was taking to make sure he was getting enough air. He also deemed extremely tired, as if he hadn't had a wink of sleep all night, but what really caught Haruhi's attention was his eyes and once she met them, she instantly knew what was going on. His pupils were dilated. He was on drugs, there was no denying it, but didn't he just get out of rehab? And Kaoru said he was trying his best to stay clean and fight his cravings.

_'I guess the cravings got the best of him.'_

Kaoru soon excused himself to the restroom, leaving the two alone at the table, or well, leaving Haruhi alone because Hikaru was in his own little world.

Haruhi took a sip of her tea before finally breaking the silence. "So, Hikaru is it?"

He looked over at her, seeming offended by her asking such a stupid question. "Yes."

"If you don't mind me asking, how are you feeling after your time in rehab? Kaoru said our first introduction was bad because you were suffering from withdrawal."

Hikaru narrowed his eyes at her, not amused by the question she had just asked. Ok, she had to admit, that wasn't the best question to break the ice with someone who had just gotten out of rehab just a month ago, but she didn't know what to say to him. It was obvious that he didn't like her and since he was high he wouldn't be up for any small talk, but she also didn't want to sit there awkwardly as he spaced out.

"I'm good," he finally answered to Haruhi's surprise. He grabbed some more food from the plate in the center of the table and finally began eating after almost an hour of them being there.

"Any new movie roles or modeling gigs?" He just shrugged his shoulders and ate another piece of fish, not bothering to really answer her question. "So, is that a no?" Again, he just ate another piece of fish, ignoring her question.

_'God, it's like he hasn't eaten in days by how much he's eating.'_

"Alright, that's it." She growled and pushed the plate of food away from him before he could grab another piece of food.

"Hey!" He hissed. "I was eating that!"

"Look, I understand you don't really like me for some reason, but I'm trying to have a fucking conversation with you without being ignored being ignored by a self absorb celebrity." Her glare soon matched his. "Or without you being aggressive."

His eyes seemed to widen a bit as if he caught on the meaning behind her words she was saying and let his irritated scowl fall then tried to play it off as if he was just tired, but Haruhi could see right through that bull shit.

"Sorry, I've just been dealing with a lot of shit lately. I shouldn't be taking my frustrations out on you." He gave her a small tired grin. "The industry is just a tough business, you know."

"I can imagine." Haruhi agreed, deciding to play along with his game for now.

"So, what do you do...uh…"

"Haruhi, and I'm a barista at the coffee shop you picked me up from."

"Oh, that sounds...like a fun job."

"You don't need to try and complement it. I know it's a shitty job." She grabbed a piece of sushi with her chopsticks and dipped it into some soy sauce, keeping her eyes trained on him. "How is it like being in the industry?"

"It's a fun career, but it does have its ups and downs. I get to have a job that I really enjoy, however, there are some things that come with being famous that I'd prefer not having."

"Is it true that people lie all the time?"

He shrugged his shoulders, toying with the straw in his drink. "I wouldn't necessarily say that. Some people lie to get attention from the media to stay in the spotlight, boost or to save their careers. But other than that, not really."

Haruhi leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. "Ok, then what's your reasoning for lying to your brother that you're still sober?"

Instantly, as those words left her mouth, Hikaru's smile fell to a state of almost pure horror. He probably thought since he was an award-winning actor he could fool her, but she wasn't stupid. She could tell when someone was under the influence in only a matter of minutes being with them.

"I-I don't know what you're-"

"Don't give me that_ 'I don't know what you're talking about'_ bull shit. I volunteer in a rehab center almost every day. I can easily tell when someone is on drugs or not."

"You have no idea what you're fucking talking about!" Hikaru hissed, his _'friendly' _personality almost doing a complete 180.

_'Being defensive and aggressive, two obvious signs.'_

"I am not on any fucking drugs! If I was I'd-"

"Be acting overly defensive and aggressive." Haruhi tilted to the side, seeing as Hikaru finally realized his mistake by letting his anger take control. "Look, I understand that addiction is difficult to overcome, but hiding it from the people who care about you and denying it won't help you in the long run. It'll just make things worse for you." She noticed that his body was growing tense and his hands were gripping the table cloth so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "I have a feeling you're afraid that if you tell Kaoru he'll start to hate you for falling back into your addiction, but I can tell you that if you tell him the truth he won't be nearly as angry as if he found out you're on drugs again-"

"Shut up!" Hikaru shot up from his chair, causing it to fall back. His glare was almost murderous and each word he spoke came out like venom. He was trying to scare her into keeping quiet, but Haruhi remained seated and unfazed by his outburst. She's seen scarier people at the grocery store down the block from her apartment fighting over the last loaf of the best brand of bread. This model was nothing compared to them.

"You don't know who the fuck I am! You're just one of those people who enjoy ruining people's lives for your own entertainment. You know about my past and now you're probably trying to get me to pay you to keep quiet of my addiction!"

Haruhi took a long sip of her tea before finally looking back up at him, unaffected by his huge outburst. "So, you admit you're using again?"

He blinked a bit, growing confused. "Huh?"

"_'Trying to get me to pay you to keep quiet of my addiction.'_ It sounds like to me that you just unknowingly admitted that you're using again."

"I...I…" He was at a loss of words as he finally realized his mistake and began to realize all the people in the restaurant staring at them. Even Haruhi had to admit she felt a little, just a little, bad for him since his outburst would most likely be all over the internet by the time she got home. His breathing began to quicken as he began to panic and he clenched his fists as if he was about to have another outburst any second, but before he could, Kaoru returned and was confused why Hikaru was standing and staring down furiously at Haruhi.

"Hey, what's going on? Did I miss something?"

"I want to go," Hikaru said under his breath, trying to keep his anger under control.

"But we're not done eating-"

"If you want to stay here and eat this fucking shit you call sushi you can Uber home, but I want to go home now!" He barked.

To not anger his brother any further, Kaoru reached into his pocket and handed Hikaru his keys, who stormed out of the restaurant after taking them.

"What the hell was that all about?" Kaoru asked as he looked over at Haruhi, who was still casually drinking her tea.

"He and I had a _'slight'_ disagreement about something."

"About what? I only know one thing that could set him off like that, but there's no way…" His words slowly grew quiet once he met Haruhi's eyes and as if it were a switch that had been flipped in his brain he suddenly knew. He looked back towards the door and a rage he hasn't felt in years began to resurface. "Haruhi, can I reschedule this dinner for another time?" He grabbed his jacket and put his on as he began making his way over to the door. "I have some business I need to take care of."

* * *

**Kaoru**

Kaoru was far beyond livid. How could he had not noticed this before? He noticed his brother was acting weird for the past few days or so, but he didn't think anything of it since he trusted his brother not giving in to his cravings again, but oh how wrong he was.

He's been pacing around the living room for about an hour and a half. Kaoru was ready to confront his brother once he got home, but when his uber pulled up to their driveway, he saw his car was still gone which meant Hikaru didn't go straight home. He didn't want to believe Haruhi, he wanted it to just be a fluke and once he saw Hikaru was home he would explain everything was just a huge misunderstanding and just flipped out because of Haruhi accusing him of being high after getting sober again, but when he saw that Hikaru wasn't at home all his hope vanished.

His eyes drifted over at a drug test he had picked up from a local drug store on his way home. This was his final clue to see if Hikaru was actually using or not. He would be mad either way, but if Hikaru was sober he would take the test without much fight, while if he was high, it was the exact opposite.

Before Kaoru could begin pacing again, he saw headlights appear in the driveway as a car pulled up to their mansion.

_'Please be sober, please be sober.'_

He did his best to hide his nerves as he heard Hikaru's footfall echo down the hall after shutting the front door. He wasn't nervous about confronting Hikaru, he's done it plenty of times before. He was just afraid that if Hikaru relapsed this quickly after just being a month out of rehab.

As Hikaru turned into the living room, he jumped a bit to see Kaoru standing there.

"Oh, Kaoru, uh...what are you doing here?"

"Where have you been?" Kaoru asked, ignoring his question. "You left the restaurant fuming and weren't home when I got here."

"Sorry," Hikaru sighed out an apology, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. "Just after I left I needed some time to clear my head. I didn't tell you where I was going because I thought you would've finished having lunch with your friend Haruhi."

"Where did you go?" Kaoru repeated, more sternly this time.

"Uh...I just drove around for a bit to clear my head after-"

"After your outburst at the restaurant?" Kaoru finished, his glare hardening as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Haruhi told me everything about your argument."

Hikaru's calm expression instantly fell and soon turned into a mixture of rage and nervousness as he tried to defend himself.

"She's a fucking liar!" He hissed out, balling his fists tightly at his sides. "She knows of my past drug use and she was falsely accusing me of using again!"

"Hikaru, Haruhi works with patients at a rehab center almost every day because she's training to be a nurse. She knows when someone is using. What would she gain from falsely accusing you?"

"I don't know, for us to give her money to keep quiet."

"And why would we have to pay her to keep quiet if she is lying?" Kaoru questioned. "If she was lying you could just deny her accusations and show proof that you're clean, right?"

As if Kaoru hit a bullseye, Hikaru's expression fell again.

"I...I…" He was caught and he knew that, but Kaoru could tell that he wasn't ready to back down just yet and he grew angry again. "I'm not using anymore!""

"Alright, if you're so confident that you're clean, then why don't you take a drug test to prove me wrong?"

"I'm not taking a fucking test to prove shit." He growled before turning on his heels and marching down the halls with Kaoru following close behind.

"If you weren't using you wouldn't be avoiding doing a test to prove me wrong."

"I don't need to prove shit to you!"

"Oh really? Then would you like to explain why mom's friend Kazue called an hour ago asking if she left her pills here because they went missing from her purse?"

"Leave me alone!" Hikaru slammed the door in Kaoru's face once he made it to his room and locked the door.

"You're not leaving this fucking house until you take a drug test Hikaru!" Kaoru banged on the door to his twin's room. "I'll even get mom and dad on board to keep you locked up in here!"

"Who are you, my parole officer? Leave me the fuck alone!"

"I will once you take the drug test!"

"I already went to the bathroom before getting home!"

"Then you better drink some water because until you take a drug test I'm having you here on lockdown!"

* * *

**Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry that it's been a month long wait, I've been busy with school and work (also playing the PS4 Spiderman game that I just found out we had.) I will try to update a lot quicker next time.**

**Also, thanks for the ongoing support for this new story. I'm shocked that a lot of people are actually viewing and favoriting it this early on. Please Favorite, Follow, and Review, I love to hear what you guys think.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hikaru**

Shit, shit, shit, I'm so fucked! There would be no chance that I would be able to pass that drug test! Three to four days being sober would only result in negative, but I wouldn't be able to survive that long being stuck in my room being sober. If I don't take anything in just one day, I can feel my body already began to break down. It would be obvious that if I waited to take the test in a few days that I've been using by the withdrawals. I'm so fucked...unless I rig the test.

It wasn't that hard to rig a drug test, especially if they let you use the restroom alone. I've done almost every trick in the book when I was in my late teens to falsely pass the test. I've gone as far as to have friends pee for me in a cup and hide it in my restroom until my next drug test. Yes. it's gross, but I'd do crazy shit to make it seem like I was sober to my family. I used to drink jugs of water to try and flush my system, but determining on the test there was only a slight chance of that working. Then there was synthetic urine, which was my go-to since most of the so-called_ "friends"_ who did pee for me stopped once my parents found out and confronted their families and since my family is such a huge name in the business world they left me alone, so that option was out of the question now.

The only problem with synthetic urine is that you have to order it online and I didn't have a few days to wait for it to get to my house, and also, most of the drug kits had a heat sensor and if you have someone watch you pee you can't really use the hot water from the sink to warm it up, but I did know how to properly use the synthetic urine for it to pass the test with no suspicion. If only I still had some but the maids threw all the packs I had away when they searched my room...or did they?

I got up from my bed and wandered over to my closet, flicking on the lights. I scanned all my clothes that were neatly hung up and all my shoes and bags pushed up against the walls until my eyes landed on my dresser on the back wall. If I remember correctly, I had a small box taped on the bottom of my dresser that I hid these so no one could find them. Hopefully, the maids missed it.

I crouched down and reached underneath the dresser, brushing my fingers along the wood until I felt a square like lump at the center.

_'Yes!'_

I ripped the box from underneath the dresser and smiled at the dusty, worn-out red box, becoming even more relieved once I saw that I had about five unopened packets in there.

"Hopefully they still work after three years."

…

I opened the door to my room after an hour of locking myself in and saw that Kaoru was still there, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed, glaring at me.

My expression matched his. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Actually I do," he said as he walked up to me, "but my brother's health and well being are far more important."

"And you're really not going to leave me alone until I take the fucking test?"

"Yup."

"Fine," I huffed and opened the door wider to let him in, "let's get this fucking shit over with."

Kaoru narrowed his eyes at me before following me to the restroom. Since in my history I've been known to tamper with the test, Kaoru was the one who usually had to keep an eye on me whenever I took a test.

He handed me a cup to pee in before leaning up against the counter and I stared at him, waiting for him to turn around but I could tell he wasn't planning on to.

"Do you mind?"

"No, I'm good. Go right ahead."

I scowled at him, silently telling him that I wasn't going to do anything until he turned around and with a sigh, he finally gave in. Once his back was to me I unzipped my jeans so Kaoru wouldn't get suspicious and grabbed the small, warm, squeezable bottle that I hid in my coat and began pouring enough of the urine in the cup, occasionally looking over my shoulder to make sure Kaoru wasn't looking.

Once the cup was filled enough I shoved the bottle back in my coat before zipping my jeans back up.

"Here," I grumbled as I placed the cup on the counter next to him, "have fun with it."

Kaoru just ignored my comment and put the tester in the cup, watching the test for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and looked over at me.

"Hikaru, you know that I'm only doing this because I care about you. If I didn't I wouldn't be doing all this shit to make sure you're clean. After you almost overdosed…"

"Don't…" I whispered, refusing to look at him as I felt tears began to burn the back of my eyes as the memories began to resurface of that day, "not now…"

Kaoru didn't say anything after that and just looked back at the test until the test was finally ready.

"Negative?" Kaoru whispered in disbelief, "but Haruhi…"

"I guess your little friend was wrong." I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket. "Maybe next time you won't jump to conclusions because some wannabe nurse said something to you."

"Hikaru…"

"I'm going out." I said as I began walking out of the bathroom with Kaoru slowly trailing behind me.

"Wait, where are you going?"

I stopped at the door before looking back at him, seeing the sorrow in his eyes, but I was too angry to care at the moment. "Somewhere I know people won't be accusing me of shit like this."

I then left the room before he could say another word.

* * *

**Kaoru**

Being utterly confused was an understatement. Kaoru was one hundred percent certain that Hikaru was on drugs by the way he was acting after Haruhi accused him, but yet the test came out negative. Maybe...maybe Haruhi actually was wrong. Hikaru was right that she wasn't a nurse yet, but she works with people who use drugs all the time so she has to know the signs of when people are high.

He looked up at his reflection in the vanity mirror he was seated in front of as a stylist began running some product in his hair. Today was the shoot for their mother's newest designs and he and his brother were the faces of the men's clothing, as usual. But his mind was elsewhere.

Hikaru was still mad from yesterday and refused to talk to him the whole ride there, and once they got to the shoot Hikaru immediately requested to have a dressing room to himself. Which he only ever did was when he truly was angry at Kaoru.

A knock on the dressing room door broke Kaoru out of his self-pitying and turned to see the door opening and his mom poking her head in.

"Mom? What are you doing back here?"

She gave him a doleful smile. "I just wanted to check on how you're feeling. I heard about your fight with Hikaru."

"Did he tell you?"

Yuzuha nodded as she walked up to her son, dismissing the hairstylist to give them some privacy. She sat down in the chair next to him that was reserved for Hikaru and placed a comforting hand on his. "I understand why you're worried about him. I am too, but you also have to remember what Eshima told us, that just because he goes out by himself for a few hours doesn't mean that he's out doing drugs like he use to."

"I know," Kaoru sighed out as he leaned back in his chair, fiddling with his jacket sleeve. "It's just...at the restaurant he just flipped out after my friend Haruhi accused him of being on drugs. He's only ever gotten that angry when he's high or guilty, if she accused him when he was sober he would've just told her off, not flip out."

"Well, it's probably still a sore subject for him." She tilted her head to the side in thought. "Haruhi? I never heard that name before. Is she a new friend of yours?"

"Yeah, I guess you can say that."

"If I may ask, why did you believe her over your brother?"

"She volunteers in a rehab center almost every day and is studying to be a rehabilitation nurse. She sees and helps people who are under the influence all the time. So I just thought she knew all the signs, but I guess I was wrong…"

"Interesting…" Yuzuha eyes narrowed as if she was deep in thought, " and how long have you known this girl?"

"Umm... I'd say a little over a month."

Yuzuha tapped her chin in thought for a few moments before the smile returned to her face. "I would like to meet her."

"You would?"

"Yes, you think I wouldn't want to meet one of my son's friends?"

"Well," he cleared his throat as he readjusted himself in his seat, "I just thought you wouldn't really want to see someone accusing Hikaru. You literally dropped one of your big-time fashion friends for accusing him of stealing her medication after he got out of rehab the first time."

"Can I be honest with you Kaoru." His mom grew a little more serious as she leaned closer to him. "I may not know your friend very well, and you are correct about how much I hate the media and strangers giving my sons a bad light, but this girl, I want to give her a chance. Because something in my gut is telling me to trust her."

…

So...the photoshoot was ever more painfully awkward than Kaoru imagined. Hikaru still refused to talk to him throughout the whole shoot, only giving him slight dialogue if the photographer or their mom wanted them to switch poses.

He gave up trying to apologize to him because whenever he tried to talk to his brother he would just give him a cold glare before turning away. Hikaru has been mad at Kaoru plenty of times, but never this bad for this long. It couldn't just be from Kaoru accusing him of using, because he would only be made during the time of the accusation then get over it after the test. Maybe it was because he believed a person he only just met instead of his brother who he shared a womb with, but by Hikaru's past it was kinda hard not to…

Once the shoot was over, both twins decided to go out. Kaoru was on his way to invite Haruhi over for dinner as his mom requested him to do and Hikaru refused to tell anybody where he was going, and even though that was against the rules for him at the time being, nobody stopped him because he was already fuming. Kaoru looked down at the sheet of paper with an address he had scribbled on it and looked back up at the apartment door that had the name "Fujioka" engraved on the plaque.

"Well, this seems like the place."

He knocked on the door as he shoved the piece of paper back in his pocket. After a few moments passed by, he heard the apartment door unlock and soon the door opened a crack to reveal a surprised looking Haruhi.

"Kaoru? What the hell are you doing here, and how did you get my address?" She asked flabbergasted.

He let out an embarrassed chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry if this seems weird, but I went to go see you at the coffee shop but your co-worker Miyu gave me your address when I asked when the next time you were working."

"I guess that makes a little sense." Haruhi huffed as she opened the door the rest of the way. "I was worried that you were stalking me or something until you found out where I lived."

"Nah, I'm not that creepy." Kaoru sniggered. "But you should probably tell your friend not to give your address to guys who are asking for you."

"Oh, I plan on talking to her the next time I see her," Haruhi grumbled as she crossed her arms and leaned against her door. "So, what's up? What was so important that you followed the address that my coworker that is obsessed with you and your brother gave you?"

"Well, I have two things actually."

"Really? Even better."

"The first thing is that my mom really wants to meet you and invited you to dinner tomorrow at our house to make up for Hikaru ruining our dinner yesterday, and also...heh...you were wrong about him…"

Haruhi quirked an eyebrow as if she didn't understand all that he just threw at her. "Wait, so I just got invited to dinner by your mother after I just made him have a scene at a restaurant that could damage his career and now you're saying I'm wrong stating that your brother was on drugs?"

"...yes?"

"And how was I wrong about your brother being on drugs?"

"Well, once he got home last night I made him take a drug test and it turned out that he was clean, which surprised me. Now he's really mad at me and hasn't talked to me since the test."

Haruhi just remained silent for a few moments, taking in all that Kaoru just said until finally breaking the silence by covering her mouth as she began laughing, now making Kaoru the confused one.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Haruhi apologized as she tried to calm down her laughing, "but I just think it's so funny that a guy who has a brother who's had a drug problem in the past doesn't know that he's been played."

"Played? I don't understand."

Haruhi's laughter finally settled after a few more moments before meeting Kaoru's eyes again. "Have you ever heard of addicts tampering with urine-based drug tests?"

"Yes."

"That's how your brother passed the test. He either used someone else's urine that was clean or he used synthetic urine."

"But that can't be." Kaoru was still confused. "I was in the bathroom with him when he took the test."

"But did you watch him _'actually'_ take the test?"

"...Shit."

How could he be that stupid? She was right. Hikaru must've cheated the test of using fake urine to pass the test, he's done it before. It should've been the first thing that came to his mind when his brother was so willing to take the test after locking himself in his room for an hour before his test. Kaoru just thought the maids had cleaned out all that shit when they searched his room, but he must've had those hidden where he knew no one would look.

"Give him another drug test and make sure to actually watch him, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you both," Haruhi said and Kaoru couldn't help but notice the small smirk that was beginning to form at the corner of her lips. "And I can bet you he won't pass the next test."

* * *

**Hikaru**

I exited my car after parking across the street from a dilapidated, old one-story house. I locked my car before looking around to make sure the coast was clear and began making my way to the house. The neighborhood was dead silent, the only sounds that I could hear were the sounds of the leaves rustling in the wind and a dog barking in the distance. It was a little too quiet that it was kinda eerie, but this neighbor was never that lively so it made it better for me not to be noticed by anyone. Maybe that's why he chose to live here because it was almost a ghost town.

I walked up to the call box and pushed the button to alert that I was here and was greeted by a groggy, tired voice of the man on the other side.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, let me in Ichiro."

"Who?"

"Are you actually going to fucking test me right now?" I growled, not wanting to take any of his shit. "Let me in."

"Alright, alright, don't blow a fuse. I'm coming."

I huffed as I began tapping my foot impatiently as I waited for him to unlock the gate, and I knew for a fucking fact that he was taking his sweet ass time just to spite me. Finally, after a minute or so I heard the buzz to inform me that he had unlocked the gate and I entered, but as I reached the door and was about to open it I halted when I heard a deep growl behind me.

"Shit!" I hissed as I slowly turned my head to look back behind me and made eye contact with a black and white pit bull. My eyes narrowed at him as I slowly turned to him.

"Kane," I held my hands out for him to stay where he was, "stay."

Kane continued to growl, taking a few steps closer to me. "Kane, I said don't." He took another step. "Don't come any closer." He took a few more steps. "I'm warning you one last time." I hissed as my back hit the door. "Not another step!"

Kane let out a loud bark that boomed off the walls before charging at me and jumped on me, pushing me against the door as he began licking my face as his tail began wagging excitedly. I let out an annoyed sigh before giving in and patted his back. Well, there goes my outfit for the day.

"Yeah, yeah it's good to see you too boy." I chuckled as I got him off of me. "But I have to go see your dad pick up something. You'll have to stay out here."

He whimpered and laid down, putting his head down on his paws as he looked up at me with those fucking puppy dog eyes. God, I've known this dog since he was a puppy all those years ago and he still knows that I can't say no when he gives me those eyes. Either I'm a pushover for animals or he's just a smart dog.

"Fine, I'll take you in with me, but if your dad gets angry it's your fault."

Kane jumped up excitedly and yipped as he followed me inside the house.

"Yo," Ichiro greeted as I walked into his kitchen. He was leaned up against the counter shirtless, eating a bowl of cereal, and by how his short black hair was messy he had just woken up.

"Do you got it?" I asked as I sat down at the kitchen table across from him.

"What, no greeting?" He asked offended. "'Hi Ichiro, it's nice to see you again and letting me into your house after so long and blocking your number." He wiped away a fake tear. "I still cry every night because of that."

"Oh fuck you," I grumbled as I continued to pet Kane. "My rehab center made me block and delete your numbers. So I didn't really have a choice."

"Oh, well that's good. I just thought you hated me."

"There's that too."

He pouted. "You know, you're not very nice when you have cravings."

"Then give me some drugs and I'll be nice to you."

"Do you have money?"

"What do you think? I'm a fucking celebrity, of course I have money."

"True, but there has been a couple of times you've sown up broke and me being the nice friend that I am I gave you some drugs for free." He finished his cereal and placed the bowl to the side before joining me at the table. "I can't have that today."

"I already told you I've got money." I spat, growing more impatient. "Now give me my fucking drugs."

"Alright, alright," he held up his hands in surrender. "I was just making sure." He got up and walked off to another room that was connected to the kitchen and I could hear him rummaging through whatever items he had in there as I continued to pet Kane.

"What would you like?" Ichiro called from the other room."

"Surprise me."

"Ooh, speaking of surprises. My sister visited me yesterday out of the blue." I felt my body began to cringe as he mentioned her. All the anger I've felt for her these past few years began to resurface and I felt my teeth began to grind together. "She was asking about you."

"Well, you can tell her I don't give two fucks about her. She could go rot in the deepest part of Hell for all that I care."

"Hey, I'm not a fan of Nariko either, but she is my sister."

"Yeah, and your sister is the one that ruined my fucking life." I seethed, scratching my nails across the old wood of the table. Kane must've sensed my anger and placed his head in my lap and I glared down at him to tell him to get off, but once I saw his puppy eyes again I couldn't bear to do that. I let out a deep sigh. "What did she want?"

"Surprisingly, just to talk to you." He re-emerged into the kitchen with a few small bags, giving me a playful smirk. "She wants to try and work things out with you."

I let out a laugh as I leaned back in my chair. "I'd rather die a horrible death than work things out with that bitch."

"I tried telling her that but she kept on insisting on how much she misses you and is sorry she made you an addict."

"Bull shit, she doesn't care what she did to me." I hissed as I rubbed my temples as I began to feel a migraine begin to form. "She knows how big my career is now and wants to be in the spotlight again."

"Probably, she always did enjoy the fame dating you gave her."

"And the drugs that came with the fame." I lowered my hand and eyed the bags on the table. "Can I have my drugs now?"

"Sure, what would you like?" He spread out the bags in front of me. "I got coke, adderall, different types of opioids."

"What's that one?" I asked as I pointed to the last bag with a small, dark blue pill that I never seen before.

"No idea, but I heard from some people that it gives a wicked high." He held up the bag to me. "Want to try it?"

I looked at the pill for a few moments, debating if I should actually take it or not. I haven't really had a good high in a long while. All the drugs that I've been using don't really affect me as much and are just used to keep me functioning. Maybe I should try it, it was always good to try something new once in a while. What did I have to lose?

"Sure, why not."

* * *

**Haruhi**

"Wait, you what?!" Haruhi's dad screeched at the dinner table as Haruhi sipped on her drink. "You mean to tell me that guy Kaoru you've been talking about is the Kaoru Hitachiin and he invited you to dinner at his house?!"

"Yes."

"And you're now just telling me about your celebrity boyfriend?!"

"He's not my boyfriend." Haruhi rolled her eyes at her dad's outburst. "He's just a friend."

"Still, it's something you should tell your fashion-loving father about!"

Haruhi rolled her eyes again as she set her coffee mug down. "I don't think his mom invited me over just because I'm friends with one of her sons. I think she also wants me to analyze her other son in her presence because Kaoru believed the same thing."

"Hmm Hikaru, I remember hearing years ago about one of Yuzuha Hitachiin's sons getting into partying and drugs. He was clean for a while, wasn't he?"

"For about two to three years ago Kaoru's said, but he relapsed again after being out of rehab, but I can see through him and that's why he made a scene at the restaurant."

Ranka sighed as he laid his head in his hand, staring down at a magazine that he had opened to a picture of the twins. "This boy has so much talent. It's a shame he's ruining his life with all these drugs. He really could go far, but if he doesn't get his life back on track he's going to be watching his brother go up while his career falls. That'll be a real shame to see."

"Yeah."

Ranka soon left for work after finishing his dinner and Haruhi began to clear the dishes away, but as she reached for her father's plate her eyes landed on the opened pages of Hikaru in the magazine. She moved it closer to her and flipped through the pages of the article and stopped at one with Hikaru and a female model. He wore a crisp white shirt that had the top few buttons undone with black slacks. His hair was wet and slicked back as if he had just walked out of the shower. He was sitting down on a couch with the female model's arms wrapped around his shoulders as they were promoting a cologne.

Haruhi wasn't going to lie and say he wasn't a beautiful man, he absolutely was. One of the most gorgeous men she has ever laid her eyes upon, but if his personality was how it was like back at the restaurant. Then no amount of outside beauty can hide the ugliness inside of him.


	6. Chapter 5

**Hikaru**

_"Wooooaaaahhhh…"_

I was lying flat on my bed, watching as my room began to grow blurry as if I was underwater and change colors as if I was at a disco party.

I had no fucking idea what Ichiro had given me, but damn, I haven't experienced this good of a high in years. My body was so relaxed that my muscles felt like puddy as I watched the light show playing before me. It felt like I was on cloud nine. Why did I ever stop using? This was the best feeling ever. Yeah, I could die from overdosing and I've come close to it before, but with a feeling like this, I didn't give a shit at the moment.

The sound of muffled laughter drew my attention away from the light show and I saw a girl sitting across from me. She gave me a dopey, lopsided smile. Her mascara was running as if she had just been done crying, but her eyes also had a strange sparkle to them. Why did she look so familiar, as if I've seen her someplace before? Her brown, shoulder-length hair was disheveled but almost in a pretty way and her grey sweater and black jeans were baggy as if they were meant for someone twice her size. But, they somehow still looked good on her.

Her brown eyes were clouded like she was high herself. As she spoke to me, her voice was slow and deep, like she was stuck in slow motion.

_"Hey…"_

I chuckled and turned on my side to face her. "Hi, what's your name beautiful?"

_"You already know my name silly."_

"Oh?" She giggled and crawled her way over to me to lay next to me. Her soft, warm hands cupped my cheek as she stared into my eyes. "And where do I know you from?"

Her smile grew as she giggled again, but this time it sounded sinister and it startled me a little. _"Aww sweetheart, you don't remember me?"_ Her dopey smile turned into a smirk. _"I'm the one who turned your brother against you for being back on drugs."_

"Turned my brother against me?"

I continued to stare at the beautiful girl for a few moments longer until it finally clicked in my mind and a raging fire began to burn in my entire being. It was that girl Haruhi. Why the hell was she on this trip with me?

I glared at her and tried to move away but my body was still paralyzed from the drugs. She saw that I was stuck and used that to her advantage to flip me over and pinned me down on the bed before leaning down close to my ear as she whispered, _"once I tell everyone that you relapsed they're going to hate you. I'm going to ruin your fucking life."_

"No!"

I suddenly got the feeling back in my body but as I was about to push her off of me, she disappeared. I scoured the room for her but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Alright, calm down," I told myself as I laid back down on my back. "She was just a hallucination. She's just hallucination. There's no way she's going to turn your family against you. Especially now that you passed the drug test. Everything is fine."

However, even though I kept trying to tell myself that, my body didn't believe it. My heart was pounding so loudly in my chest that I could feel each beat in my ears, and it felt like I could get sick at any moment.

The great trip that I was having only minutes ago had now turned horrible. How does one girl that I didn't even know do this to me? Even Nariko never got me this bad when we were still dating, and she made my life a living hell. So why does this girl have this effect on me when she's not even a real nurse? There was no way my parents would take her seriously unless she had a fucking degree.

"I'm fine," I whispered to myself again. "I'm fine."

* * *

**Kaoru**

"Hey Hikaru, I know you're still angry at me and you're going to be even angrier...no that won't work. Uh...Listen, mom wanted me to invite Haruhi over for dinner because she's a friend of mine, so don't be mad...no…"

Kaoru huffed as he slouched down on the couch as his friends sat around him in his living room. One of them placed his coffee mug on the table before looking back at Kaoru.

"Kaoru, I understand that Hikaru is upset with you, but if you don't tell him that your friend is coming over tonight he'll be even madder than he already is."

"Don't you think I know that Kyoya! Why the hell do you think I invited you all over for?!"

"Just tell him. Rip it off like a bandaid, he's a big boy."

"Buy Kyoya, you have to understand that this is a sensitive topic for Hikaru."

Kyoya eyed his blonde friend next to him. "I know that it's a sensitive subject Tamaki, but if we're not straightforward that might make things worse."

"What if we don't tell Hika-chan that Haruhi is coming over?" Honey suggested. "It would be like a surprise and since your family is there he won't be able to make a scene."

"But if he is high he might." Mori chimed in. "He'll lash out at Kaoru or even Haruhi because he'll feel like he's being attacked. The last thing we need is Hikaru getting physical."

"Ugh," Kaoru flopped down and buried his face into a pillow and let out a muffled scream. "Why does my life have to be so fucking difficult?!"

"Just talk to him." Kyoya sighed as he patted Kaoru's shoulder to try and bring a little comfort to him. "I promise you he won't be as mad as you think."

Kaoru looked up from the pillow with hopeful eyes. "You really think so?"

"I know so, and if I'm wrong you can gloat about it until the day I die."

Kaoru lightly laughed, feeling the stress start to leave his body by all his friends support. He just needed to tell Hikaru about Haruhi coming over for dinner. It's just like what Kyoya said, like ripping off a bandaid...even though it was going to be painful…

Once his friends wished him luck and left, Kaoru made his way to his brother's room, where he's stayed in for the past few hours that there were friends over. Actually, now that he thought about it Hikaru hasn't really left his room since he came back home yesterday. He only left to get some food that he would eat in his room where he's been isolating himself. He's rarely ever been this mad at Kaoru, the only other time was when they were teens and he was trying to convince Hikaru that his girlfriend at the time Nariko was toxic, but he just wouldn't have it and almost get into a physical fight with Kaoru. In his defense, Hikaru was high at the time, but he also might be high right now as well so Kaoru had to be cautious.

"You can do this." Kaoru encouraged himself as he grabbed the handle of his brother's door. "Just tell him that it was mom's idea and he won't be mad at you."

With that he opened the door a crack to see that none of the lights were on, the light in the room was the sunlight peeking through the curtains. Hikaru was laid out on his bed asleep, still wearing the clothes that he had changed into when he got home yesterday afternoon. That's odd, it was almost one o'clock. The latest Hikaru ever slept was around ten, the last time he slept in this late was when they were still in high school.

Kaoru walked over to his brother and began tapping his shoulder to try and get him up. "Hikaru, wake up."

As he tapped him again, Hikaru jumped awake and looked up at Kaoru and seemed to calm down a little, but there was still a slight nervous energy to him that Kaoru couldn't understand why it was there.

"Shit, you scared me Kaoru." He said as he laid his head back on his pillow.

"Sorry, uh...I just came up here to tell you something."

"What is it?" Hikaru yawned out tiredly as he stretched his arms over his head.

"Look," he sat down on the edge of his brother's bed, staring down at his hands as he tried to figure out the right words to say. "I'm...I'm sorry for going off on you and believing Haruhi over you about you being back on drugs. It's just…" he sighed as he met his brother's eyes, "I don't want you to fall back down that path again. I mean, you almost fucking died because of these drugs and I guess since you relapsed after a few years of being sober I'm afraid you're going to relapse again…" He tried his hardest to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill out, but he couldn't help his voice from cracking as he continued to speak, "and this time, you might not be so lucky as you were last time. I can't lose you, Hikaru…"

Kaoru wiped away the tears from his eyes before they could fall and he heard the bed creak as Hikaru sat up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, I forgive you." He gave a reassuring smile, but yet Kaoru couldn't help but feel that there was something off about it as if Hikaru was hiding something and felt guilty about it.

_'Interesting.'_

"I'm sorry that I overreacted. I guess that I felt a little betrayed that you took your friend's side over mine, but I also don't really blame you. If I were in your shoe I most likely would've too."

"So, you're not mad at me anymore?"

Hikaru chuckled as he playfully shoved his shoulder. "No, I'm not mad at you dip shit."

"Oh thank God, I don't know how much longer I could've stood the silent treatment, but uh...I didn't just come up here to apologize."

"What else did you come up here for then?"

"Promise you won't be mad at me, because it wasn't my idea."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow, seeming a bit hesitant now to know what his brother was so nervous to tell him. "Determines, how bad it is."

"Well, uh…" Kaoru cleared his throat before speeding through his next sentence. "I told mom about Haruhi and how she accused you and now for some reason mom wanted me to invite her over to have dinner with us because mom really wants to meet her."

Once all the word vomit Kaoru sped through left his mouth, Hikaru just sat there. His brows furrowed a bit as he was trying to process together all the Kaoru had said.

"Wait, so...mom invited Haruhi, the girl who accused me of being back on drugs, over for dinner?"

"...Yes."

He pursed his lips as if he was holding back some anger that was starting to rise within him. "And when is she coming over?"

"...Tonight."

Hikaru just nodded and faced away from Kaoru, who couldn't help but notice his brother tapping his finger on his knee as he tried his best to control his anger. Maybe he actually wasn't high after all, he wouldn't have been able to control his anger that well if he was, but yet, he could just be sober at the moment. The true test was when Haruhi came over.

"Are you mad at me again?" Kaoru asked.

"Was this all mom's idea?" Hikaru asked.

"One hundred percent, I only followed the orders she gave me. I swear."

"Then no, I'm not mad at you." Kaoru let out a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived as Hikaru narrowed his eyes at him. "But I'm keeping my eye on you."

Kaoru couldn't help but smirk.

_'And I on you.'_

* * *

**Haruhi**

"Do I look good? Is my makeup too much? Did I overdress?"

Haruhi rolled her eyes at her dad's dad's frantic panicking as they stood in front of the front door of the Hitachiin mansion. She knew that her dad was a huge fan of the entire Hitachiin family, especially Yuzuha Hitahciin. He almost passed out yesterday night when she told him about how Kaoru was her new friend and his mom invited both of them to dinner at their estate.

Ranka looked away from his pocket mirror that he was using to make sure his appearance was good enough and looked over at Haruhi, who was in black skinny jeans, vans, and an olive green bomber jacket over her graphic tee.

"Are you sure you want to wear that honey? It isn't very formal."

"This isn't a formal dinner dad if it was Kaoru would've told me." Haruhi huffed as she shoved her hands in her pockets. "Also, I'm mainly here to prove that I'm right about Hikaru being on drugs. So, there's no real point in dressing up."

"Are you sure you don't want a little makeup? Just a little lipstick?"

"No dad," she rung the doorbell before her dad could pester her any further.

After a few moments of waiting, the door opened and they were greeted by a smiling Kaoru. "Hey Haruhi and Haruhi's dad, thanks for coming."

"Thank you for inviting us." Ranka giggled like a schoolgirl as he shook his hand. "And you can call me Ranka if you want."

Kaoru just grinned before gesturing them to wait one moment as he went over to talk to a maid that was standing at the door. She felt her father grab her hand tightly and almost squeal in delight by just shaking Kaoru's hand. Haruhi never understood why people would act this way around celebrities, they were just people like the rest of them. There is no reason why they should get special treatment or millions of people fawning over them because they are either on a screen or performing.

Once Kaoru was done talking to the maid, he left the door slightly ajar as he made his way back over to the duo, seeming a little nervous.

"Alright, so everybody in the house but Hikaru knows of the plan. I'm just really worried about how he's going to react to this."

"Don't worry, I can handle him."

"I just want to warn you Haruhi, he can get physical," Kaoru warned. "And not the type of physical where he just shoves you to scare you kind of shit. The more like he's going to beat the living crap out of you if you get in his way." He seemed to notice Ranka's now worried expressions and tried to help calm his nerves a little. "He's never done it to strangers really, only me and a couple of friends of ours who are male, but he does throw shit. So I'm just warning you. I can understand if you don't want to do this anymore."

Haruhi just shrugged, seeming unfazed by all that Kaoru had just warned her. "If I can handle a few gang members who almost tore the rehab center apart in a matter of minutes, I can handle a spoiled celebrity."

Kaoru's smile returned and Haruhi could tell he was grateful that she didn't leave after his warning and led them inside and Haruhi's jaw almost dropped once she stepped foot inside the house by how beautiful it all was. The inside was beautifully furnished with high-end furniture and was decorated beautifully with gorgeous paintings and photographs, which really brought out Yuzuha's artistic side. Awards of numerous movies and award shows were displayed on the fireplace for all to see and it brought a smile to Haruhi's face seeing how proud Yuzuha and her husband were of their children's accomplishments.

Once they made it to the living room, she saw Kaoru's parents and...Hikaru was seated on the couches. Immediately as she walked in, their eyes met and his smile fell and she could literally see the disgust and hatred in his eyes as if she was the vilest thing on this planet. It would've hurt her if she actually gave a shit on what he thought about her, but she didn't.

Yuzuha smiled and walked over to the duo and gave them each a hug. "Hello darlings, it is so great to meet you. Kaoru has told me a lot of good things about you."

_'I highly doubt Hikaru has.'_

Yuzuha's attention turned to Ranka, who has been holding in his excitement this entire time, and she smiled at him. "And you must be her father. I must say your makeup and hair are just divine tonight."

"You really think so?"

"Yes, if I didn't know any better I would've thought you had it professionally done just to meet us."

Ranka let out a small chuckle as he tried to play it cool as Yuzuha continued to compliment him. Haruhi felt a hand on her back and looked up to see Kaoru had moved to be right next to her. "Come on, let's have a seat on the couch while they talk."

Haruhi nodded and took a seat next to Kaoru and as they planned the day before they made sure it was in front of Hikaru so she could analyze him throughout the night.

"Hello Hikaru," Haruhi gave him a tight smile, "it's good to see you again."

Hikaru just hummed a laugh as he took a sip of his wine, but as he noticed the glare Kaoru threw at him he let out a huff and gave an obviously fake smile. "It's nice to see you again too Ms.-"

"Haruhi," Haruhi cut him off, "just Haruhi."

"It's nice to see you again...Haruhi." His seethed out as if it was almost painful for him to say.

After a minute or so of chattering, Yuzuha walked over to the sofa where her husband was seated while Ranka squeezed next to Haruhi.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Yuzuha offered. "We've got an arrangement of vintage wines and top brand alcohols."

"Water is fine with me." Ranka gave a polite smile. "But I'm sure Haruhi would like to try some."

"Dad, I'm fine-"

"I'm almost positive that she'll enjoy the wine that your other son is drinking."

Hikaru made a face, as if he would rather throw the rest of the wine down then share it with her, but decided not to make a scene and allowed a maid to grab the bottle off the coffee table to pour Haruhi a glass.

"Dad," Haruhi quietly hissed to her father, "you know I don't like drinking in front of you."

Ranka rolled his eyes and whispered back to her as the maid handed him a glass of water. "I already told you a thousand times that I don't mind you drinking in front of me. If I can work at a bar where I'm surrounded by drunk people all night, I can handle my daughter drinking some wine in front of me."

He took the glass of wine from the maid and handed it to her. "Enjoy yourself."

Haruhi just stared at the glass of wine for a few moments before finally taking it into her own hands. As she took a sip, a burst of earthy flavors and fruits exploded on her taste buds. She had many different types of wines before, but they were all cheap and less flavorful compared to this one.

"Is it to your liking?" Yuzuha asked.

"It's amazing," Haruhi complemented. "I never had anything like it."

"I'm glad that you like it. We just had that imported from Italy a few weeks ago and I've been dying to have an opportunity to use it."

"I don't think I can go back to cheap wine after this." Haruhi joked, but she couldn't help notice out of the corner of her eye Hikaru rolling his eyes at her comment.

"So Haruhi, I heard you're working on becoming a rehabilitation nurse."

"I am," Haruhi answered, a little afraid where this conversation might be heading.

"How are you enjoying it?"

"I'm enjoying it quite a lot actually. Seeing how my help is getting people back up on their feet is very refreshing and keeps me motivated. When you see someone who looks so beaten up and helpless when they first arrive leave healthy and with confidence, it's the most amazing feeling in the world."

Ranka took ahold of Haruhi's hand and gave her a proud smile. "If it wasn't for her, I might've not kept my sobriety up for so long. I'm so thankful for her every day."

Haruhi smiled back and cupped her dad's hand as she mouthed, "Thank you." As she turned back to Yuzuha, she couldn't help but notice the mother's eyes were glistening with tears that she was holding in, and it almost broke Haruhi's heart.

When Kaoru had come over the other day, he had said that his mother had become suspicious of Hikaru's drug use again. That was one of the main reasons why she wanted Haruhi over so she can be one hundred percent sure that he was back using, and seeing how much this was hurting her, Haruhi was going to make sure she was on top of her game.

The only issue is that Hikaru wasn't stupid. He knew that Haruhi could tell when he was under the influence, so today he decided to stay sober. He's probably been sober all day so there would be no evidence outwards that he was using, so the only way to prove that he was using was to find proof or to get him to do another drug test.

She had to give him some props, some people she treated before would think she wouldn't notice if they took a little of the drug for a pick me up, but it was still obvious to tell.

He must've experienced something like this before where he's gotten caught, or he just wasn't as stupid as those patients. He was going to be a bit tougher than Haruhi imagined, but she did always like a good challenge. Her eyes met his once again and he flashed her a cocky smirk as if he knew this was going to be difficult for her, but a little challenge never scared her away.

Her smirk soon matched his.

_'Let the games begin Hitachiin.'_


	7. Chapter 6

**Haruhi**

Once the table was set, the party moved to the dining room and took their seats. Haruhi ran her fingers along the polished wood armrest as she shifted on the soft cushion she was seated on, amazed by how something so beautiful could also be so comfortable It was worlds away from the tiny table that she and her father shared in their apartment. The Hitachiin's dining room was bigger than her whole apartment, while her own could probably fit in their smallest bathroom.

However, even though the whole room was gorgeous it was hard to enjoy it with the on going glare she was getting from Hikaru from across the table.

He might've known that something might be up with his mom suddenly her out of the blue to dinner so he wanted to keep his eye on her so she wouldn't find anything that she could use against him, or, he just hated her and wanted her to know that he did not like having her in his house. Whatever it was, it was annoying the shit out of her.

From what she understood from what Kaoru had told her, Hikaru didn't know the real reason why she was here. So there should be no reason why he should be staring at her unless he wanted to just show how much he didn't want her here.

_'Ah, that must be the reason.'_

After a few more minutes of pleasant conversation, (besides with Hikaru) dinner was served. A beautiful plate of fish and rice was placed in front of Haruhi and the smell was causing her mouth to water.

"Wow, this looks amazing."

"You really didn't need to go all out for us," Ranka said almost in awe as he saw the beautiful presentation of the dish.

"Nonsense," Yuzuha smiled politely, "you're my son's friend. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't give you two anything but the best treatment."

Haruhi could see from the smile Yuzuha was giving her that this was also a small thank you from her and her husband for being here to help them. For the next hour, the two families conversed with each other and once dessert was being prepared Haruhi felt Kaoru's foot tap hers.

_'The signal.'_

"Mrs. Hitachiin, where might your restroom be?" Haruhi asked.

"Down the hall to the left. Kaoru could you show her so she won't get lost?"

Kaoru smiled at Haruhi as he stood up. "Follow me."

As Haruhi followed Kaoru out of the dining room, Haruhi but couldn't help but catch Hikaru's eyes on them as they made their way out. He was glaring at her like usual, but there was something different about this one. It wasn't just directed towards her, it was also towards his brother. As if he was suspicious that something might be going on.

Kaoru had told her last night that Hikaru had forgave him, but they would have to be discreet as possible because he was still not fully back to trusting Kaoru again just yet. Their parents would try to keep him at the table if he wanted to see what they were doing, but they could only do so much before Hikaru would know something was up.

As they were out of the view of everyone, Kaoru took another turn towards the living room and began to head up the stairs.

"Alright," Kaoru began in a hushed voice, "we have at most ten minutes before Hikaru becomes fully suspicious of us. So, we'll need to search quickly. Do you think that'll be an issue?"

"That depends," Haruhi replied, "if he's good at hiding or not."

Once they made it to Hikaru's room, Kaoru opened the door and ushered Haruhi in. To no surprise, the room was huge, about three times bigger than Haruhi's and her father's room combined. It was neat and tidy, most likely from the maids cleaning it every day, and was decorated with photos of his family and friends on the dresser and nightstand, as well as some posters of some of the movies he has been in framed on the wall, and Haruhi would have to admit that she actually liked most of the movies he had up there.

"Ok, I'll take the bathroom and you'll take his room. Then we'll switch to see if the other person missed anything." Haruhi suggested. "How does that sound?"

"Sure, sounds good." Kaoru nodded. "I'll set a timer so we don't go over our time limit."

When Kaoru set the timer, the duo spread out to begin searching. Hikaru's bathroom was bigger than any private bathroom should be. It looked like she just walked into the royal family's bathroom with pearl white marble countertops and a pool like bathtub. Shit, this place was so luxurious that she wouldn't be surprised if their toilet seats were made of gold.

But now wasn't the time to judge and admire what the Hitachiin bought with their wealth, Haruhi had a job to do and she was determined to find what the celebrity heartthrob was hiding. However, he was really good at hiding any evidence.

Haruhi had checked all the cabinets, behind and under items. She even checked to see if he had anything in bathroom products, but the most she found in his bathroom were old prescription pills that were not addicting.

When the timer went off, the two of them switched and Haruhi began searching Hikaru's room, but just like the bathroom, she couldn't find anything that pointed to his drug use and it was starting to stress her out. She knew Hikaru was using, it was obvious when she first officially met him, but she didn't have any proof to show his family and it might look like she was just trying to accuse him because of his past drug use and that'll hurt her career significantly. If it got out that she accused a well-known celebrity and had no proof, no one would hire her because they won't believe a word that she said.

"Shit," Haruhi huffed as she closed the last drawer.

She and Kaoru had almost searched the entire room and they've found nothing. She knew that this was going to be difficult, but she didn't think he'd be this good at hiding. If she had enough time she knew she would be able to find at least one thing to prove that he was using, but ten minutes was a far cry from the time she needed.

"Hey," Kaoru placed a hand on her shoulder, breaking her out of her self criticizing. "We have to get back. I'm pretty sure that Hikaru already suspects something is up from us being gone for so long."

"Yeah, I know." She sighed out. "I'm sorry that I couldn't find anything. You probably think I'm a fraud."

"Oh no, no, no," Kaoru tried to reassure her. "I still believe you one hundred percent. It's just that we don't have that much time. I'm positive if we weren't rushing we would have found something. So don't be so hard on yourself."

She gave him a small smile, but it was still obvious that she was still disappointed in herself. "Thanks, I really…" Her words drifted off when she saw Hikaru's closet door was slightly ajar. Could there be..?

"Haruhi?"

"Did you check the closet?"

"Uh...no, I don't think so." Without another word, Haruhi stood up and began making her way over to the closet. "Wait Haruhi, we have to go."

"This will only take a few minutes. Trust me."

Kaoru sighed but just followed her as she made her way over to his brother's closet. She began searching through his clothes and shoes that were hung up and in the drawers. As she was about to close one of the drawers she felt something brush against her fingers as she moved an article of clothing to the side. She grabbed what she felt and saw that it was an empty prescription bottle and read the label on it.

_'Oxycodone.'_

"Kaoru, who is Kazue Fukushima?"

"She's one of my mom's fashion friends. Why do you ask?"

Haruhi held up the empty prescription bottle so Kaoru could see. "Found this in his dresser." As she said that Kaoru walked over to her and took it from her. "I have an inkling that she didn't just freely give this to him."

Kaoru stared at the orange bottle, his expression turning dark when he read the medication. "That son of a bitch. I knew he had something to do with it when Kazue called asking if she left her painkillers here by accident." He looked back down at Haruhi with fire in his eyes that she was all too familiar within her line of work. "Fuck the time limit. Keep searching."

For the next few minutes, they went back to searching every corner of Hikaru's closet. No longer caring if they made a mess. Kaoru was too blinded by rage to even care at the moment and wanted to find everything that his brother was. Haruhi was about to suggest leaving since they've been gone for over twenty minutes when her eyes drifted over to the little opening under the dresser. A memory of when she was visiting her father in rehab crossed her mind when a patient hid some drugs under his dresser by taping them at the bottom. He couldn't just be using Oxycodone, he was also using something else. So, maybe he was also hiding something there too.

Haruhi reached her hand underneath the dresser and slowly ran her fingers along the wood, pausing halfway when she felt a huge lump stopping her. She grabbed ahold of it and removed it from the dresser to reveal a worn-out red box.

"Kaoru, I think I found something."

Kaoru stopped his searching and looked to Haruhi to see the box she was holding and his eyes widened.

"What the hell? I thought we threw that out years ago." Ge scooted over to Haruhi and took the box from her, opening it to reveal small bags of various pills and powders and bags of synthetic urine. Kaoru clenched his jaw, but even though it was obvious that he was furious with his brother, it was more to keep back the tears that were welling up in his eyes as he stared down at everything in the box.

"I knew he was back on...but I don't realize it was…"

Haruhi placed a comforting hand on his back. She knew exactly how he felt. When she first discovered how bad her father's drinking was she was distraught. She knew he had a problem, but not as severe as it really was until she came home early from school to see her father passed out on the floor, and almost on the verge of death from alcohol poisoning. Kaoru has been in a similar situation. Hikaru may have not overdosed, but he came close to one night and to people who didn't know how the mind of an addict works, they might think that should've been a wake-up call. Most of the time it is, but their body still craves the drug as they continued using so they won't be in pain. Because of the withdrawal, getting sober is the last thing on their minds.

"I'm going to kill him." Kaoru seethed out as he closed the box.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We have to approach him calmly. We wouldn't want him to feel threatened and become aggressive."

Kaoru huffed, but he agreed. It wouldn't be much help if they attacked him on sight. They would have ease into as if he were a feral animal.

With all the evidence they needed, they left Hikaru's room and began walking back to the dining room, discussing how they should bring up what they found to Hikaru.

"What do you usually do when you find drugs in a patients' room?"

"Well, usually we sit them down and calmly confront them by showing them what we found," Haruhi answered. "Most of them deny it's theirs and someone is trying to frame them, but that's rarely even the truth. After much arguing, still remaining calm, they usually confess and if not we force them to take a drug test. Revoking privileges until they agree to take one."

"Hopefully it'll be that easy, but knowing Hikaru-"

"But knowing Hikaru what?"

The duo immediately stopped in their tracks and looked in front of them to see Hikaru there giving them a questioning glare.

"Hikaru, what are you doing here?" Kaoru asked.

"I can ask you two the same thing. I thought she had to use the restroom?"

"Uh...she did...but…" He looked over at Haruhi for some help.

_'I thought he was an actor? Aren't they supposed to be good at improv?'_

"But?" Hikaru quirked an eyebrow as he crossed his arms, waiting for their answer.

"But...I just got so fascinated by the architecture of your house that Kaoru gave me a tour."

Hikaru narrowed his eyes in suspicion, obviously, obviously not believing her. What? She wasn't the world-famous actor here. The closest thing she ever did was her first-grade recital where she played an understudy for a tree. So, acting wasn't really her strong suit, unlike the famous actor who was standing right next to her. Shouldn't lying come naturally to him? Maybe since he and his brother are so close that they can see through each other, hence why he asked her for help. Kaoru caught her eyes again and she instantly knew what he was asking and she shook her head. Now wasn't the right time to confront his brother with just the three of them there. Usually, she would suggest not to have many people around since the patient might feel like they're being attacked and cornered. But from what Kaoru had informed her, Hikaru does get violent, but in front of his parents, he is less likely to because he doesn't want them to be ashamed of him.

Hikaru eyed the two of them as they had their own silent conversation, most likely realizing what was finally up. "What really is going on…"

Suddenly his glare fell and his expression grew terrified as if he had just seen a ghost. "Where did you get that?"  
Haruhi followed where Hikaru's eyes were looking at and saw that he was staring at the red box in her hand. Shit, she forgot to hide the box. She didn't know that she'd see Hikaru up here so she thought she would have enough time to hide it in her jacket. It would be stupid for her to lie since it was obvious that he knew it was the box he was hiding his stash in. So, even though this wasn't the environment she wanted to confront him in, she had no choice.

"Where the fuck did you get that box?" Hikaru asked again, but this time furious.

"Hikaru, calm down-"

"You went into my fucking room?"

"Hikaru-"

"You have no right to even step foot in this house, let alone my room." He seethed as he began to march up to Haruhi. "Who the fuck do you think you are-"

"I allowed her into your room." Kaoru stepped in front of Haruhi in a protective manner and placed a hand on his brother's chest. Giving him a stern glare to tell him not to step any closer to her.

"Why would you allow a complete stranger invade my privacy like that?" Suddenly, the realization hit him and he first grew surprised before growing angry again. "You still don't trust me, do you? Even after I showed you that I was clean after taking the drug test you still believe her over me."

"Maybe if you hadn't pulled shit like this before, maybe I would have." Kaoru sneered.

"I told you, I. Am. Not. Taking. Any. Drugs!"

"Then would you like to explain what's in this box? Because from what's inside it sure doesn't support what you're claiming."

Hikaru didn't answer his brother but instead looked back at Haruhi with a murderous rage. "I want you out of my house!"

"Hikaru-"

"No!" He barked, cutting his brother off. "I don't care that she's your_ 'friend' _and you gave her permission to snoop in '_my'_ room. She invaded my privacy. I want her out!"

His attention snapped back to her as if she were his next target and she'd hate to admit it, but she jumped a little. She wasn't going to lie, she was a little frightened by Hikaru outburst. Sure, she has seen some bad outbursts before from patients, but there has always been another nurse alongside her who could restrain the patient if need be. But now, it was just her and Kaoru. Kaoru might be able to restrain his brother, but with him also protecting Haruhi, who was the main target of Hikaru's outburst, might make things a little more difficult.

She stared up at Hikaru's eyes and saw pure rage, but also she could see that he was also terrified, like he was a little boy. He knew that no matter what he said or did Haruhi had won. Once this night was over his secret about his relapse would be out to his family.

"What is going on here?" Yuzuha's voice broke off their intense staring contest Hikaru and Haruhi were having.

Haruhi looked past Hikaru to see his parents and her father making their way over to them. They must've heard the commotion from downstairs and came up to make sure that Haruhi was ok. She could tell that her dad wanted to intervene, but she held up her hand to stop him, knowing that it would only make things worse.

"Hikaru," his mother's voice grew stern, "step away from the girl and tell me what's going on. You told us that you were getting more wine."

"You want to know what is going on?" Hikaru snapped as he faced his mom. "This bitch was invading my privacy and snooping through my room with Kaoru!"

"Hikaru!" Yuzuha gasped, horrified that her son would use that language to address a woman.

"Don't you dare call my daughter a bitch." Ranka scowled.

"Well, maybe if your daughter wasn't looking through my personal belongings I wouldn't be calling her one. She had to learn that habit from somewhere, maybe when you were busy getting drunk she picked up on that bad habit."

"Hikaru!" His mom shrieked again, mortified that her son would be saying such things.

Ranka stepped closer to him, almost to the point that their noses were touching, giving Hikaru a glare that Haruhi has never seen her father give before. Even though Ranka was in heels he was a few inches shorter than Hikaru but looked far more intimidating at that moment.

"You have no right to shame on someone else's addiction Hitachiin, and neither do I. The only reason why we're here is to help you and you shaming me won't do shit. So get rid of that fucking tough guy act because I can see through it."

Hikaru's jaw tightened as he grew furious and began to clench his fists as if he was ready to get into a fight. Haruhi tried to intervene, but Kaoru stopped her, not wanting her to get involved, whispering to her.

_"I don't want you to get hurt. If he looks like he's about to strike I'll stop him before he can lay a hand on your dad."_

Haruhi let out a sigh but agreed to stay put. No, because she was afraid to get hurt, but because she was afraid her involvement might get her father hurt.

"I'm not on drugs." Hikaru hissed through clenched teeth.

"Then explain what's in the box Hikaru," Kaoru spoke up again to draw his brother's attention back to him. "And don't you dare say that Haruhi planted them in your room because I've seen this box plenty of times before.

"Fine, it's mine!" Hikaru finally confessed. "But it was from a long time ago. I haven't opened it in years."

"Then why do you still have it?"

Hikaru just shrugged. "I forgot that it was there. But I haven't used any of what's inside since before the first time I was admitted into rehab."

"Then how about you take a drug test to prove you're not taking any of the drugs in here?"

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Don't fucking start this again. I already took-"

"Yeah, and used synthetic urine to rig the test." Haruhi cut him off, making him glare back at her. "From what Kaoru had told me you had locked yourself in your room for about an hour before taking the test, which could've given you more than enough time to find the synthetic urine in the box. Then when you took the test you made Kaoru turn around so he wouldn't catch you cheat the test."

"And how could I-"

"A squeeze bottle." Haruhi crossed her arms over her chest as she gave the eldest twin a challenging glare. "It's the oldest trick in the book."

"You just got out of rehab a month ago." Yuzuha finally spoke up again, struggling to hold back tears. "You were doing so well and trying to get back into your career. Why would you want to ruin your life again?"

"Mom…"

Soon the whole family began questioning Hikaru. Asking him why he's been using again if he knew he was killing himself. Why he stole his mom's friend's pills, and many other things that Haruhi couldn't even catch because all the questions were being mashed together that even though she wasn't the one being asked the questions she was getting overwhelmed, and by seeing how Hikaru was reacting, so was he. As his family kept interrogating him with questions. Haruhi noticed that his body was stiffening up as if he was a cornered animal and began to get some space, but his family would only follow.

_'This isn't good. If they don't stop pressing him he's going to snap. I need to get them to back off of him before he does something drastic.'_

"Guys, you might want to back off of him," Haruhi suggested, but her voice was drowned out by the others.

"Why are you using again?"

"When will you realize you're not just hurting yourself?"

"Why didn't you just come to us for help?"

"Guys, you really need to lay off him-"

"Shut up!" Hikaru lashed out, making everyone grow silent. His back was up against the wall and his breathing was turning into pants. He had gotten so overwhelmed with all the shit that his family was throwing at him. He's been an addict for how long and they still didn't know that they had to approach him calmly? Maybe this was why Hikaru had a semi-violent reputation because no one but nurses or doctors approached him correctly.

"I'm not on fucking drugs." His words came out like venom.

"Then explain all the evidence we just found," Kaoru demanded.

"I don't have to explain shit to any of you." He pushed past his brother and stormed down the hall, but everyone was hot on his heels. Haruhi was now the one getting stressed. She was invited over to help prove Hikaru was using again yes, but she thought it was going to be a lot smoother like her other patients were back at the hospital when confronted. If the family would just give him some space, Haruhi might've been able to get something out of him.

Hikaru didn't make it very far before Kaoru grabbed his wrist, making him turn back to him. Haruhi could barely understand the words they were screaming and cursing at each other, and it didn't take long before Hikaru's violent side Kaoru warned her about began to rise to the surface. As he tried to pass Kaoru again, Kaoru blocked his way, pushing Hikaru back as they continued to fight. Haruhi was thinking of intervening, but before she could there was a loud sound of shattering glass echoing through the hall as Hikaru threw down a glass painting off the wall towards Kaoru as he screamed, "Get the fuck away from me!"

Luckily, Kaoru was fast enough to jump out of the way in time before any of the shards could hit. Shit, this was getting bad. Haruhi knew that Kaoru had restrained Hikaru before when he had one of his fits, but if he tried to do that now it would be too dangerous. Hikaru was riled up and could do something unpredictable while there were also shards of glass on the floor, which could also be used as a weapon.

As they began to get physical again after Hikaru tried to push past his brother again, Haruhi knew she had to at least try and stop them before the fight gets any worse. How hard could it be to separate two six foot tall, fit, twenty-three year old men?

"Guys stop it!" Haruhi ordered as she tried to separate the two of them, but as she grabbed onto Hikaru's arm to separate him, he yanked his arm violently out of her grip, resulting in him hitting her square in the face. Knocking her back onto the floor.

"Haruhi!"

Kaoru ran over to Haruhi's side and knelt down to help her sit up. She rubbed the bridge of her nose where she had been hit with the most impact.

_'God, I know I shouldn't be surprised he could hit this hard, but shit.'_

"Oh honey, you're bleeding." Yuzuha gasped.

Haruhi removed her hand from her nose and saw that her palm was covered in blood. How the hell did she not notice before Yuzuha pointed it out?

"I'll go get some tissues." Mr. Hitachiin said before rushing off.

"Keep your head up sweetie." Ranka advised as he hooked his finger underneath his daughter's chin to bring her head up. "Do you think you can pinch your nose to try and slow down the bleeding?"

"I think I can." Haruhi winced as she pinched her nose, but the pain was the last thing on her mind at the moment when she noticed that someone very important was missing. "Where did Hikaru go?"

Everyone looked to where Hikaru was standing just a minute ago and saw that he had disappeared. Kaoru let out a furious growl before shooting up.

"I'm going to kill him!"

"You can kill him later. You need to stay here and be with your friend while she is hurt." Yuzuha ordered as she took the tissues from her husband when he returned and gave them to Haruhi.

"But mom-"

"Let him cool off." Haruhi took the tissues and placed them on her nose. "He's too angry right now. He probably doesn't even know what he did to me and just saw an opportunity when he saw you rush over to me to leave. Yelling at him more right now might make things worse."

Kaoru looked back down the hall where his brother stormed down, then let out a defeated sigh, knowing that she was right. "Can I at least take you to the doctor to make sure your nose is alright? I know firsthand how hard Hikaru can punch."

"I think I'm-"

"That would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Kaoru." Ranka cut her off.

"Alright, you guys just hang tight while I make a call to the doctor for an emergency appointment."

"Thank you." One Kaoru stepped away to make the phone call, Haruhi scowled at her father, which he just rolled his eyes to. "Don't give me that look. I'm doing what is best for you."

"I don't need to go to a doctor. It'll just be a waste of time and money."

"You said that too when you fell on your arm during P.E. in high school and it turned out your wrist was broken." Haruhi let out an irritated huff as her dad placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm just looking out for you. Accident or not, you were hit in the face with enough force to make you fall back. Yes, your nose may not be broken, but I'd rather go to the doctor and him tell me that you're fine rather than we don't go at all and find out later that your nose is broken." His demeanor turned solemn. "I know it is not as serious, but I don't want you to continue to develop the nasty habit your mother had about pushing her health to the side because she felt like it was a nuisance until it was too late. So please, if you won't do it for yourself, do it for me?"

Haruhi vaguely remember that much of when her mom was first diagnosed because she was so young, and also didn't understand what was going on, but she did remember when her mom's health began to deteriorate and how much her dad wanted her to go to the doctor. Her mom was so caught up on a case for work and taking care of her family that she just blew it off as a simple cold for the longest time. Until it gradually grew worse over time. Her mom only agreed to go to the doctor when the court case was finally finished and Haruhi was in preschool so she wouldn't have to worry about her mom's health, but what her mom thought was going to be a simple trip to the doctor's office turned dark.

When Haruhi was picked up from school that day, it was just her father which was very unusual. When she asked where her mom was when they got home, she could tell that her father was holding back tears as he told her,

Cancer…stage four...almost untreatable…

She remembered how her father blamed himself and apologized to Haruhi for not pushing her mom to go to the doctor's sooner, and even though Haruhi was too young to understand what was going on, she knew it was bad. As her father sat on the floor crying, she gave him a big hug, which he happily accepted. Ever since then, Ranka has pushed Haruhi to go to the doctor whenever she felt sick or hurt. It got annoying at times, but she knew that he was doing this because he cared for her.

"Fine, I'll go." Haruhi gave in.

"Thank you."

"Even though it's not broken."

Ranka couldn't help the small chuckled that escaped passed his lips. "You really are your mother's daughter."

* * *

**Hikaru**

I banged loudly on the door nonstop until they finally arrived at the door, visibility annoyed by my continuous knocking but soon grew confused to see me there.

"Hikaru, what the hell are you doing here? Did you already go through your supply that quick?" Ichiro asked. I just ignored his question and pushed passed him into his house. "Hey, hold up. You can't be here right now."

"And why the fuck not?" I grumbled as I began rummaging through his kitchen to find at least something to make me forget about everything that has happened at that ambush of a dinner, even if it was just for a minute.

"Because I have some _'business' _to attend to if you know what I mean, and even though I love you like a brother I don't want you alone in my house. Especially since you know where all my stashes are."

I just ignored him as I continued to rummage, getting frustrated that one of the only time I needed some fucking drugs, I couldn't find any laying around his house.

"Did you not have any sales today?!" I fumed as I slammed the drawer shut. "Shit!"

"No, because I've been preparing all day for my appointment for tonight." He looked me up and down obviously seeing how stressed I was. "Is everything alright? You look like you're in distress."

"My own family backstabbed me by inviting this girl who Kaoru is friends with over for dinner so she and him could search my room for any drugs."

"Did they find anything?"

"What do you think dumbass?"

"You don't have to be so rude, you know?"

I sighed out tiredly as I sat down at the kitchen table, rubbing my face. "Sorry, it's just that I thought this time I could hide it for a little longer since I had just gotten out of rehab, but of course Kaoru had to befriend a girl studying to be a rehabilitation nurse."

"Oh, now I see why you've been stressing for the past few days." He said as he sat down across from me. "She must've known you were using just by looking at you."

"Yep, and I thought after I used the synthetic urine to pass the test Kaoru gave me that he'll leave me alone, but I should've known something was up when mom had him invite his friend Haruhi over for dinner." I laid my head down on the table as I let out a muffled groan. "How could I be so stupid?!"

I felt Ichiro pat my back uncomfortably, to try and comfort me. "I'm not going to try and lie to you by saying that maybe you can still try and _'prove'_ to them that you're not using any drugs, we both know that won't work." I just let out another groan as he continued to pat my back. "Hey, I think I might know what I can do to help get you mind off of all this shit."

I lifted my head up slightly so only my eyes were exposed to look at him. "And what might that be?"

"I'm not really supposed to do this since I'm going to be working, but how would you like to accompany me to a party?" He gave me a mischievous smirk. "It's a rapper's party, and you know how wild they get."

I dreamed my fingers along the hardwood table, debating. I haven't been to a party since I broke up with Ichiro's sister Nariko all those years ago. I never really liked them because I wasn't the biggest partier. Well, when I was sober. After drinking and doing whatever drugs they had at the party I would obviously loosen up, but I'd rather get high at home rather than anywhere else, because I knew that my room was my safe place...or I thought it was.

But now I'm most likely going to be put back on watch for an indefinite amount of time. This party will be my last night of just being free.

"Yeah, I'll need all the distraction I can get."

…

All I remembered was once I got to the party I didn't hold back. Drink after drink to help me forget about all the shit from today as well as doing some of the drugs that Ichiro had given me on the house to keep myself sane. I grabbed onto the frame of the door to keep myself balanced as I stumbled out of the room. I stared down the hall crowded with dancing people in the strobe lights. I stood upright, gripping the vodka bottle I had in my hand as I slowly made my way down the hall, letting my drunken body take me wherever as I took swigs of the vodka bottle.

Once I found an empty couch I flopped down on it as I grew tired of walking and took another swig. I felt like shit, like I wanted to puke out my guts and pass out, but I also felt like I was on cloud nine. I haven't felt this good in years. I usually didn't get this high to keep my drug usage a secret from my family, but today I just let loose and didn't give a fuck and it felt like I was almost in an out of body experience. All the worries I had going into this party I had already forgotten. Shit, I know I'm not the partying type, but if all parties had me feeling like this after a few drinks and some drugs I'll party more often.

The next few flashes of what I remembered was doing some of the drugs I was offered.

_Weed: Not usually my thing since the high wasn't powerful enough to satisfy me, and it made me really sluggish. It also smelled and it was obvious if I smoked it because the smell would be all over my clothes, but if I was ever offered some, I would usually smoke it._

_Molly: This was one of the first drugs I ever got hooked on. It gave me this euphoric feeling that I had never felt before the first time I ever tried it and it was like I had no fear in the world. It didn't make me stupid like I believed I would fly or anything like that. But it made me and everything around me feel amazing._

_Cocaine: Also the same effect to me as Molly, gave me a euphoric experience and made me feel more confident. It did give me a lot more energy than Molly, so I would usually use this drug as a pick me up for the day, however it did sometimes give me bad physical effects, like an irregular heartbeat that made me feel like my heart was going to explode. Also, my body temperature would either rise immensely or made me extremely cold. So, unless I didn't have any other drug for a pick me up, I only used this just for fun._

Then there were drugs that I was offered at the party, but refused to take or take again.

_LSD: I've taken it a few times in the past, and all the trips I had were bad to worse. I've had trips where I've seen people's faces melt off to where I thought I witnessed a man getting mauled by a bear wearing lederhosen. So yeah, after that I decided to never try it again._

_Meth: I've been offered it a few times in the past and almost did take it once when I really was desperate to get high. But seeing how the drug was making people act and how the long term effect of the drug made people I decided to just suffer through the withdrawals._

_Heroin: It should be obvious why I never tried this._

_Fentanyl: Again, should be obvious since it fucks you up worse than heroin._

_Shrooms: I don't like mushrooms so I never tried it...that's it._

I took a puff of a blunt that I was offered and blew out the smoke, watching as the cloud of smoke as the euphoria began to set in again.

* * *

**Kaoru**

Kaoru parked in front of the mansion filled with drunken partiers. After he had made sure Haruhi's nose was fine and she had gotten home safely he decided that his brother had enough time to "cool off" and used the GPS tracker that their parents forced Hikaru to put in his phone when he first got out of rehab. He knew his brother was out getting high, or drunk, or both. Either or, he was getting shit faced most likely to forget about today. Kaoru actually thought Hikaru's partying days were over, but maybe he was wrong.

He let out an exhausted sigh before exiting his car, making his way inside the party. Just as he expected there were people everywhere dancing, making out, and groping up on each other. He even heard some _"unholy"_ noises coming from the bathroom and bedrooms he passed, and he hadn't even been in this house for more than a minute. All he wanted to do was find his brother and just get back home where he knew his brother would be safe, but in a mansion this big with all these people it was going to take forever to find him.

"Oh, there you are Hikaru." An awe too familiar voice drunkenly laughed as they wrapped their arm around Kaoru's shoulders. "I was getting worried that I lost you." Ichiro laughed as he looked up at Kaoru, but his laughter soon faded when he noticed Kaoru's dark scowl and he slowly removed his arm from around Kaoru.

"You're not Hikaru, are you?"

"Ichiro!" Kaoru hissed out at the guy who he hoped he would never see again. "Where the fuck is Hikaru?!"

"Hey, hey, hey," Ichiro tried to calm the twin down as he was backed to a corner. "I don't know I've been looking for him too for the past ten minutes."

"Why the hell is he here in the first place? Did he accompany you on another fucking job?!" Ichiro remained quiet, but as Kaoru took a step closer to him he finally cracked.

"Yes, yes, ok." He admitted. "He came to my house fuming a few hours ago and I thought that he could loosen up a bit if he came with me to a party."

"And by loosening up, you meant get wasted, right?" Ichiro slowly nodded, seeming a bit afraid of what Kaoru might do to him. "I thought you finally got it through your thick skull that you needed to stay the fuck away from my brother all those years ago when he almost overdosed!"

Ichiro blinked a few times as if he was taking in all that Kaoru had said. "Wait...Hikaru almost overdosed..?"

Kaoru was taken aback by his question. "Yes, about three years ago. You didn't know?"

Ichiro shook her head. "No, if...if I had known I would've stopped selling to him…" He just stood there for a few seconds in shock until his shock turned into horror. "We have to find him now."

"Ichiro!" Kaoru called out as he followed Ichiro as he took off in search of Hikaru. "Why are you suddenly terrified? What the fuck did you give him?"

"Nothing drastic!" Ichiro said as he continued down the hall, "but I don't know all the shit the people at the party gave him or how much. If you said he almost had an overdose that means you most likely took him to rehab so his tolerance to the drugs won't be as strong."

At that moment, Kaoru literally felt his heart drop. He knew exactly what Ichiro was saying, and he also remembered being told about it while visiting Hikaru in rehab that a patient has a higher chance of overdosing after getting clean because their tolerance to the drugs wasn't as high. So, if Hikaru had taken a lot of drugs tonight, there is a high chance of Hikaru overdosing.

Ichiro began asking the other guests if they had seen Hikaru and they were either too drunk to remember if they saw him or not, or they just haven't seen him at all. Kaoru was almost at the point of a full-blown anxiety attack. They have been searching this Goddamn mansion for half an hour and couldn't find any trace of Hikaru anywhere. Did he leave the party? If he did, who took him since Ichiro drove him here. Did he leave with some girl, or was someone trying to take advantage of him in a vulnerable state?

"Kaoru!" Ichiro's voice broke Kaoru out of his panicked thoughts. "The host of the party said he saw Hikaru lying on a couch in the backyard about twenty minutes ago."

"Was he alive?"

"From when he last saw him, yes."

Kaoru wasted no more time and pushed past guests to make his way to the backyard as fast as he could. Just like the inside, the backyard was crowded with partiers drinking, swimming, and dancing. If Hikaru was still like he was when they were younger, he would always be in the most secluded place he could find to get high so no one would bother him. After scanning the large backyard for a few seconds he finally spotted some furniture under the gazebo and could somewhat make out a figure lying on the couch.

"There," Kaoru pointed to the gazebo, "I think I see someone over there."

_'Please for the love of God let it be Hikaru, and he's alive.'_

When they made it to the gazebo, Kaoru was relieved to see that the person was Hikaru and that he was still breathing, just out of it as he was sprawled out on the couch with his hair disheveled and the top three buttons of his shirt were open. He hadn't seen his brother like this in years and it made him sad just looking at him. At the sound of people coming towards him, Hikaru slowly lifted his head up, blinking a bit as if he was trying to get his eyes to focus at what was in front of him.

Now that Kaoru knew that his brother was alive, his worry turned into anger.

"So, are you still going to try and convince me that you're still sober Hikaru?" Kaoru spat.

"Shit," Hikaru grumbled as he palmed his face, but soon let out a low chuckle. "I guess I've been found out, huh?"

"This isn't funny Hikaru." Ichiro said. "What you're doing is dangerous."

Hikaru rolled his eyes as he picked up a cup of what Kaoru assumed was some type of strong alcohol. "Don't give me that bullshit like you suddenly care about me since my brother is here." He took a sip of his drink. "Let's not forget that you gave me the drugs in the first place."

"Yeah, but I didn't know you had an overdose. You know my policy."

"Almost had an overdose." Hikaru corrected. "So the rule doesn't apply to me."

"Still…"

"Look, I'm fine so stop worrying. Nothing-"

"You really think you're _'fine?_'" Kaoru cut him off. "I mean, just look at you. You're a fucking mess, sitting here at some random celebrity's party that you don't even know with your drug dealer, who is also worried about you, and getting crossfaded."

"Kaoru-"

"No!" Kaoru snapped. "You already had your time to talk. Now it's my turn!" Kaoru took in a shaky breath to compose himself before continuing. "I understand that you must be ashamed that you fell back into your addiction after only being out of rehab for only a month and you were scared to tell any of us because you were scared of how we would react. Yes, I'll admit what I did today with Haruhi wasn't the best route to go, but you kept denying and fighting me when I questioned you about it and used fake urine as well to tamper with the fucking drug test. At least when you relapsed before you didn't fight that much with me when I found out, but now…" Kaoru clenched his jaw tightly, trying his best to not let his tears escape. "Are you trying to kill yourself? Because by the way you're going, it seems like you are. I mean, you punched Haruhi for Christ's sake when she tried to separate us!"

"Wait...I punched her?"

_'So, Haruhi was right. Hikaru didn't realize he had hit Haruhi and just took off down the hall when he saw an opening. At least I know he's not a complete piece of shit.'_

Kaoru let out a tired sigh. "Let's just go home Hikaru, please. We can talk about everything in the morning. Tonight, I just want to make sure you stay alright."

Hikaru stared up at Kaoru with glassy eyes for a few seconds, as if he was contemplating on going home or not before slowly nodding. Since he had a feeling Hikaru was too out of it to walk straight, he had Hikaru wrap his arm around his shoulders and helped him up.

"Come on, let's get you home."

* * *

**Hey guys, I'm really sorry for the long-awaited update. Hopefully this long chapter makes up for my absence. I have been busy with school and work and even though I write during my free time I didn't have as much time as I would've liked. Also, I will admit the main part me not updating is because I got Red Dead Redemption 2 for Christmas and I swear it one of the best games I have ever played and I got addicted the moment I started playing. I did beat the game in a week but my stupid ass accidentally saved over my main save file with a new one so I had to start all over again...I was not happy.**

**I have started writing again and hopefully, I'll have more frequent updates. I need to update my other stories first because the last time I updated them was in September. **

**Thanks for sticking with me and waiting for three months, I love you guys. Hopefully, I won't make you wait that long again. Since my birthday was on the 22nd, this is my birthday present is giving this chapter to you. So you better love it! Jk...only a little. **

**Please Review, Favorite, and Follow. Until Next Time.-HH1957**


	8. Chapter 7

**Kaoru**

Kaoru sipped on a cup of coffee as he sat on the living room couch, flipping through a random magazine that was on the coffee table. It has been about a week since the whole fiasco with Hikaru happened and since then everything has been...bearable at the Hitachiin household. Hikaru was put on house arrest for the time being since he was refusing to go back to rehab. Mom argued with him to try and get him to go back, but Hikaru would just threaten to check himself out if they put him back in there.

Kaoru then came up with a compromise. If Hikaru wasn't going to go to rehab then he would have a stay at home nurse to keep track and help with his progress. Hikaru was still resistant at first, but agreed. However, things weren't going as smoothly as they all hoped.

"I am finished!" A woman's voice boomed through the halls. Kaoru looked up to see a middle-aged nurse storm through the living room with her bags as his mom ran after her.

"Please Mrs. Watanabe, I'm sorry for his behavior but we really need you. You're the best in the program."

"Never in my thirty-two years of working as an at-home nurse have I ever come across a man so vile." Watanabe seethed as she threw on her coat.

"He's just going through withdrawals. You know how people get when they're in pain."

"Yes I do," she wrapped her coat around herself as she continued to glare at Yuzuha. "But there is a difference between going through withdrawals and just being a horrible human being."

"But-"

"Good day Mrs. Hitachiin!"

And with that, the nurse slammed the door shut as she left. Yuzuha let out a frustrated groan and laid her forehead against the door.

"Hikaru being a brat again?" Kaoru asked.

"What do you think?" His mom grumbled, which Kaoru just shrugged his shoulders to and went back to looking through the magazine. "Three nurses." His mom exclaimed as she made her way over to the living room. "It has only been a week and he already chased away three nurses. He even had the younger one in tears as she ran out."

"Then there was that other nurse he convinced to get him drugs by promising to sleep with her."

"That little tramp." His mom slumped on the couch exhausted. "Now I have to find another nurse and pray she'll stay."

"With how Hikaru's being, we would need someone that can channel their inner Annie Sullivan."

"Can you talk to him? To try and get him to corporate?"

"Like he would listen to me." Kaoru scoffed.

"But there's a higher chance that he will then me or your father."

"But you're the parent. Make him listen."

Yuzuha glared at him, getting agitated that her other son was fighting with her. "You're right, and I am _your_ mother as well and I'm telling _you_ to go up to your brother's room and go talk to him. Now."

Kaoru let out a sigh as he tossed the magazine back on the coffee table. "Fine, I'll go talk to him."

Slowly but surely, Kaoru made his way up the stairs towards his brother's room. Ever since the night he picked Hikaru up from the party, their relationship hasn't been the greatest. Even though Hikaru seemed to take all that Kaoru said at the party, the next day when he woke up he fought Kaoru about going back to rehab and would get irritated by the slightest thing he did because he was still angry that Kaoru went behind his back and would bring it up in almost every argument they had. How he chose Haruhi's side instead of his own twin's…

Haruhi...Kaoru hasn't heard from her since he had checked up on her last week to see how her nose was doing. She must've wanted nothing to do with him after his brother literally hit her in the face. He just hoped that he hadn't scared her from achieving her dream of being a rehabilitation nurse. He knew that she would have to deal with violent patients in the future, but was she not ready for it yet, or was it because there were no other nurses to help her so she got overwhelmed? He just hoped it didn't come to that.

When Kaoru reached his brother's room he knocked, which was immediately responded by a harsh, "Fuck off!"

"Well, that's not very nice," Kaoru answered. "Open up, we need to talk." There was only silence coming from the other side and Kaoru let out a sigh. "Mom sent me up here."

There were a few more moments of silence before he could hear his footsteps making their way over and opened the door. The image of his brother that Kaoru saw was upsetting to look at. His hair was a mess and his face was scruffy from not shaving. His eyes were ringed with black circles and he still had on the same pair of black sweats and an old shirt of a movie he did on it from a few years ago.

It was sad to see his brother like this, but yet it was awe too familiar that it hurt him. Yes, Kaoru hasn't seen Hikaru like this since they were twenty, but those years were dark times. It might be better now since Hikaru didn't have a certain someone whispering in his ears what to do at every second of the day. Kaoru could only pray it wouldn't go back to that.

"What do you want?" Hikaru grumbled.

"As I said, mom sent me up here to talk." Kaoru crossed his arms over his chest. "May I come in?"

Hikaru just let out a big huff before walking away from the door. "Whatever."

Kaoru entered his twin's room and was greeted by a huge mess. Covers and blankets were thrown off the bed, clothes, beer cans and liquor bottles, along with cigarette boxes were scattered all over the floor and dressers. Just by looking at all the trash in his room made him seem more like an alcoholic rather than a drug addict by how much alcohol he had consumed.

He was going stir crazy and his withdrawal were hitting hard so he wasn't even going to try and put up a facade, and Kaoru couldn't really blame him. He couldn't even imagine all the pain and stress Hikaru was feeling at the moment.

"So, what did mom send you all the way up here to bother me for?" Hikaru asked as he grabbed a half-eaten chip bag that was on his nightstand.

"About how you made the nurse leave in a fiery rage."

"Oh boo hoo," Hikaru said as he ate some chips and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"I'm serious Hikaru. This is the third nurse this week. We can't keep hiring nurses that you're just going to chase away, or sleep with so they'll get drugs for you."

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "I didn't sleep with her." He said as he ate a couple of more chips. "I just said that so she would get me what I wanted since I'm not allowed to leave the house."

"And that's_ why_ you can't leave the house." Kaoru lightly slapped the back of his brother's back before sitting down right next to him. "I get that you hate being on house arrest, but you refuse to go to rehab so this is the only way we can make sure you stay clean, but with you being so much of an asshole to every nurse we hire to the point that they quit won't help you at all."

"I know." Hikaru huffed as he palmed his face. "It's just the withdrawal man. Even when I'm asleep I can still feel them in my dreams. That's how bad they are. I'm not trying to be an asshole, but it just comes out you know?"

"God, I pity Eshima now after experiencing full-on how bad you get with your withdrawals."

Hikaru let out a soft chuckle, which Kaoru couldn't help but smile at. He hadn't seen his brother smile since the day of the party. "Would you believe me that I was actually worse with the nurses at the rehab center?"

"Not one bit."

"Well, it's true." He offered Kaoru a few chips from the bag, but only a few before snatching them away again. "I think they were able to handle me a lot better because they had a lot more nurses to tend to me rather than just one. If it was then I would've been kicked out of the rehab center _long _ago."

"Hey, don't talk down about Eshima like that." Kaoru chuckled. "She's a professional."

"Yeah, unlike the nurses you hired."

"That _mom_ hired." Kaoru corrected. "I had nothing to do with the hiring process. If I did then I would've made sure they would've been able to put up with your shit."

Hikaru just fiddled with the beer bottle he had in his hand for a few moments before letting out a soft sigh. "I'm sorry...for everything."

Kaoru gave him a rueful smile before giving him a firm side hug. "I know you are. I may know nothing of what you're going through, but I do know that it's painful. I just want you to stop fighting us because all we're trying to do is help you. I don't want to lose you so early because of these drugs. I still want to make memories with you. Even if they aren't all happy memories." Hikaru let out another soft chuckle. "Just promise me you're going to at least try and get along with the next nurse we hire?"

"That determines," Hikaru gave a lazy smirk. "If I feel up to it that is."

* * *

**Hikaru**

I groaned out painfully as I placed my pillow over my face, trying my best to distract myself from the cravings. I'd hate to admit it, but in rehab this would've been a lot easier since I would be distracted for most of the day, but being here on house arrest I was only here with my thoughts and they were all about drugs!

I moved the pillow down a bit so I could see the clock on my nightstand. It was three in the morning. I've been trying to fall asleep since ten, but with each passing hour my cravings were making everything far more difficult, and with Kaoru disposing of the box I had all my drugs in. I had nothing to satisfy them.

I let out a sigh as I rolled onto my stomach and began browsing through my phone for what felt like the thousandth time that night. Just scrolling through random shit to try and distract me again. I even looked through old text messages that's how desperate I was, but as I was scrolling I saw a few messages I exchanged with Ichiro that caught my eye.

_'So, how did you enjoy that new drug?'_

_'It was alright. I had a bad trip at the end though.'_

_'Yeah, I heard that you have to have a clear mind to have a great trip. I've never done it before, but my other customers say it makes them feel amazing. Like anything, they've never experienced before. Next time do it when you're not stressing over anything.'_

_'I highly doubt that'll be any time soon, but I'll put it in my nightstand so they're in arms reach. I'll tell you how the next trip goes I guess. But that might be a while.'_

_'Sure thing.'_

I looked over to the left at my nightstand and just stared at it for a few moments. I could feel my heartbeat quicken as my body knew that satisfaction was only a few feet away from me. Slowly, I crawled over to my nightstand and opened it and was greeted by a medium-sized black cardboard box. I took the box in my hands and opened it, and I really hate to say this, but I was delighted to see a decent amount of multiple drug substances that could last me a few weeks at least, or maybe even months if I used them sparingly.

I must've been high when I texted Ichiro and hid these drugs because I had no memories of doing so. I picked up one of the bags, which I assumed was coke, and opened it. I dipped my finger in the white powder and watched as the moonlight from my window made it glimmer before bringing it to my nose so I could inhale it.

Instantly, all the pain I've been feeling all this week vanished and a peaceful feeling washed over me as I laid back down on my bed. I smiled as I stared up at the ceiling as it began to spin as if I was on some sort of ride. I knew that was I wasn't going to sleep tonight, but at least I would no longer be in pain.


	9. Chapter 8

**Kaoru**

"Are you sure this is the right nurse for Hikaru?" Kaoru whispered to his mother who sat next to him on the couch.

"My friend said this nurse was able to cure her son from his addiction to alcohol and we're a little desperate. So, I thought it was worth a shot."

"I'm sensing a lot of tension in this household." Kaoru looked back over at the new _"nurse"_ on the couch across from them, who had her eyes closed as she was "blessing" some kind of green crystal, which Kaoru couldn't help but roll his eyes to. She was just spewing out obvious shit. She knew why she was here and mom had warned her about Hikaru's temper. So of course there was tension in the household. "Has there been a fight that happened with a family member or friend recently?"

"Yes." His mom nodded eagerly. Did she really believe this bull crap?  
"The images of the fight. They're all coming to me. I can sense all the anger and sadness coming from all of you. It bot enrages me and breaks my heart."

"I'm sorry Ms…"

"You can call me Maiko." She smiled as she smoothed out her forest green dress.

"I understand you're here to help and all, but how are crystals going to help my brother get over his addiction?"

"There is nothing to be sorry about child? A lot of people underestimate the powers of healing crystals." She held up the crystal she had on the coffee table that matched her dress. "I first didn't believe it at all at first either until I witnessed first hand when the crystals helped cure my brother's clinical depression and alcoholism. After that, I studied them for years and have helped over fifteen people."

"Wait, just fifteen?" Maiko nodded and Kaoru looked over to his mom in a panic. "Mom, I don't think this is a good idea."

"Hush, it's better than nothing at the moment." His mom augured in a whisper before giving Maiko another smile. "So, where do we start?"

"Well, first I must meet with the troubled soul and I then will help them by using the powers from the crystals and some natural remedies."

"And how long should all this take to help him get over his addiction?"

"No longer than a month. He won't ever look at a single drug the same way again when I'm done with him."

Kaoru just shook his head but didn't say anything. He really wanted to try and get his mother to find another doctor, but they were running out of options. Word has gotten out to other home nurses about Hikaru being difficult and no one wanted to deal with him, and if they were up to the challenge they usually get overwhelmed and leave within the next day or so. Kaoru hoped this "nurse" was legit, but a gut feeling told him that this was all a bad idea.

* * *

**Hikaru**

"You got to be fucking kidding me?" I looked at all the boxes of crystals and what she called _"natural remedies"_ the nurse had placed in my room and was scattering some onto my bed as if she was preparing a ritual or something, and I was someone she was going to sacrifice. I looked over at Kaoru, who wasn't amused at any of this either. "You can't be serious with all this."

"Well, none of the other nurses would put up with your bull shit so we had no other choice."

Once Maiko, or whatever her name was, finished preparing my bed she smiled over at me. "All right, I prepared your bed for the cleansing. We can get started now."

She patted the center of my bed that was bare for me to lay on. There was no way in hell I was going to do this. I knew my family was desperate to help me, but I wouldn't imagine they would bring an actual hippie into our house to try and _"cleanse" _me with fucking crystals.

"There's no way I'm doing this."

"It's either this or going back to rehab. Your choice."

I let out a sigh of defeat. I knew I had no way out of it. If I refused to do this shit and went back to rehab I would get tested and my family would see that I relapse...again...I hated myself for it, but my cravings were too powerful for me to control, and when I found the stash of drugs I hid away that Kaoru and Haruhi overlooked I couldn't help myself. I wasn't using them to get high as much as I was using them to stay sane.

"Fine," I huffed out, "I'll corporate."

"That's the spirit." Kaoru patted my back before turning towards the door to leave. "Have fun. I'll come back in about half an hour when you're done to see how it went."

…

"Now just breathe and relax," Maiko said in a calming voice as she placed the last crystal on my forehead.

I opened one of my eyes to look over at her as she was taking in deep breathes herself I guess so I could mimic her. I closed my eye again before letting out another sigh. This was stupid, but I decided to just follow her instructions because I had a feeling that if I didn't we would be here a lot longer then I wanted if I tried to fight everything she did.

I wasn't going to lie, I was relaxed but I was also lying on my bed in a decently comfortable position so I highly doubt it was the crystals that were making me relaxed.

Maiko whispered inaudible words under her breath as she waved her hands slowly over my body to try and ignite the crystals or whatever. I stopped paying attention to whatever she was saying a while ago. However, I must've been quite relaxed because the next thing I knew Maiko snapped her fingers, making me wake up from the nap I didn't even realize I had fallen into.

"How do you feel?" Maiko asked as she began taking the crystals off of my body. "Relaxed?"

"Uh, yeah I guess," I said as I sat up on my bed.

"The crystals I used were amazonite. This helps soothe your spirit and body and heal all the damage that stress has inflicted on your poor body and soul."

_'I highly doubt that.'_

"Now before I leave for the day," she reached into her bag and pulled out a mason jar filled with a dark green liquid that looked like it belonged in a swamp. "You have to take two shots of this."

I just sat there for a few seconds, trying to comprehend that she was actually telling me to drink...that. I could literally feel my stomach churn just by her saying I had to take two shots of that. "There's no way in hell I'm doing that."

"It may look gross, but it's no different than taking a wheatgrass or ginger shot."

"I've never had any of those before."

"Ok, then think of it as an alcohol shot," Maiko suggested. "You like to party right? It shouldn't be that much harder than that."

I looked back at the strange liquid unsure, I never was the biggest fan of shots. I only did them when I was younger so I could get even more fucked up than I already was. I still took shots occasionally whenever I was offered one, but I rarely ever ordered them myself.

"I promise this will cleanse your body and make you feel one thousand times better."

Ugh, I really didn't want to take it, but I had a feeling it would get back to mom that I was being uncooperative and I knew if I screwed up with this doctor there was a high chance they would force me back into inpatient rehab. With an annoyed huff, I agreed to take the shots and she poured me two shot glasses of it. As she handed them to me, I gulped before saying a small prayer to God begging him for it to not come back then I took the shot, and God it was awful. Immediately as I swallowed it, the consistency alone almost made me cough it back up.

"Jesus, what the fuck was in that?" I winced as I covered my mouth to keep it down.

"Just some natural herbs and essences. It all comes from nature, which is mothers nature's medicine."

"Well, it was rancid." I choked out.

She handed the last one to me with a smile, and even though both my mind and body were screaming at me to not take the shot, I took it. Which was even worse than the first one.

"Now, you just have to take this every day after our sessions for the next month and I guarantee you won't crave a single type of drug ever again."

_'We'll see about that.'_

* * *

**Kaoru**

"So, how was your first session with your new _'nurse'_?" Kaoru asked as he opened a beer bottle before slumping down on the couch next to Hikaru as the movie began to play.

"It was alright I guess." He huffed as he ate a few pieces of popcorn. He looked over at his brother and saw the beer bottle in his hand. "Are you deliberately trying to torture me?"

"Hey, just because mom forbids you to drink alcohol doesn't mean I can't drink." Kaoru defended himself as he took a swig of his beer. "And besides, mom has many good reasons why she won't let you drink because she doesn't want you to pick up another nasty habit while going through withdrawals." He glared at his brother before snatching the bowl of popcorn away from him. "Like eating all the popcorn before the movie even officially started."

"Oh fuck off," Hikaru growled as he took the bowl back. "If I can't drown my pain in alcohol or drugs at least let me do it with food."

Kaoru let out a small chuckle before leaning back in the couch. Taking another swig of his beer. "So what movie are we watching?"

"Jurassic park."

"And why that movie?"

"Because I like dinosaurs. No other reason."

"Alrighty then." Kaoru smiled as he clicked the play button on the remote."

…

Even though Hikaru hasn't fully recovered yet. Kaoru was happy that he was at least well enough to be able to spend some time with him like they used to. He did leave to go use the bathroom about halfway through the movie and Kaoru couldn't help but feel uneasy. Yes, his brother was getting better but until he knew that he was one hundred percent clean that's when he could fully trust his brother again. But when Hikaru finally came back and seemed normal it put him at ease.

However, around the end of the movie, he began to notice Hikaru was acting a bit strange, and not the type of strange as if he were on drugs or anything. But more as if he was getting sick.

"Are you alright?" Kaoru asked as Hikaru pushed the bowl of half-eaten popcorn away from himself.

"I don't know, I feel sick all of a sudden."

"Did you eat anything bad?"

"I don't think so…"

Even in the darkroom where the only source of light was the TV, Kaoru could tell that Hikaru's complexion had turned pale and it looked like he was starting to sweat.

"Do you want to head up to bed? We could always finish the movie another time."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea…"

Kaoru decided to clean up so Hikaru could rest as his mind began to wonder. How could Hikaru have gotten so sick in only a matter of minutes? I couldn't have been on drugs if he was still somehow taking them because by how calm he was acting he only would've taken a small dosage. Could he have eaten something bad? But if that's the case then Kaoru would've gotten sick as well. Hopefully, it was just a small sudden stomach bug and he'll be better by tomorrow.

…

A few days slowly passed by and it was like God heard Kaoru's prayer, but decided to do the complete opposite of what he prayed for. In only one night, Hikaru went from having a mild stomach ache to almost the flu overnight. When Kaoru checked up on him the next morning he was in his bed, curled up in a ball in pain with a high fever with a trash can next to his bed, which indicated to Kaoru that Hikaru must've been really sick because he would refuse to vomit unless he was deathly ill. Kaoru tried to get Hikaru to go to the doctor, but he felt too sick to even uncurl himself from the position he was in.

They were able to get a doctor over to check up on him, but all he said was that all his symptoms pointed to food poisoning. However, Kaoru wasn't convinced.

But as the third day came around, Hikaru began to feel better enough that he could eat something and keep it down and continue his treatment, which he wasn't all too thrilled about.

"Does she really have to come?" Hikaru groaned as he sat back down on his bed with a small bowl of soup. "Can't we just say I'm still sick. It's true."

"Nope," Kaoru answered as he fixed his appearance in the mirror. "You already had a long enough break from your treatment. We have to make sure you keep on track. He groaned as he began stirring his soup. "I really don't want to see her today. I still don't think my stomach can handle whatever mixture she made me drink last time."

Kaoru paused and turned his head to look at his brother confused. "Wait, a mixture?" Hikaru nodded as he sipped a spoonful of his soup. "What was in it?"

"I don't know." Hikaru shrugged. "But she said that it's supposed to cleanse my body of the drugs and will make me hate them or whatever. She said it had natural herbs and stuff so mother nature can heal me."

"Do you think that's what made you sick?"

Hikaru moved the spoon away from his mouth as he actually put some thought into what Kaoru had said. It actually made sense. The doctors indicated that he had some type of food poisoning so whatever she put in that mixture could have caused him to get sick. Also, that's the only thing Hikaru had ingested that day that Kaoru had not. So this had to be the reason why he got sick.

"I don't think so," Hikaru answered after a few quiet moments. "I mean, she used all-natural ingredients from her hippie garden or whatever. So, I don't see how I could've gotten sick from it."

"But how else would you explain you getting extremely sick in only a matter of hours and I didn't? We ate almost the exact same things that day?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was a late reaction from the day before or something. Remember what happened to Tamaki back in high school when he got food poisoning a day later after he tried to make his own dinner the night before."

"True…"

It still didn't sit right with him that the new nurse was making his brother drink a strange mixture. Maybe he should take a deeper look into her.

…

A few days have passed and it seems like Hikaru hasn't gotten sick again. He was still recovering from the food poisoning, but he was getting better each day so the thought of the mixture causing Hikaru to get sick mostly left my mind. However, his fever soon returned as well as his stomach cramps. It wasn't as bad as it was before, but he was obviously in discomfort. But, even though his brother was suffering, they had gotten closer these past couple of days. Granted, he'd rather have his brother healthy than sick, but he was happy that they were able to spend a lot of time together. They haven't gotten along this well since before Hikaru had relapsed again after rehab.

Kaoru knocked on his brother's door frame before entering his room. "Hey, I got you some soup if you're up to eat. Do you want it?"

"Maybe later," Hikaru mumbled, not taking his eyes off the TV screen as he lazily played a game. Kaoru walked over to him and placed the bowl on his nightstand before joining Hikaru on the bed.

"So, how are you feeling this evening?" Kaoru asked, which Hikaru just shrugged too. "What was your temperature that last time you took it?"

"99.8"

"That's good, that means your fever has finally broken."

"Yeah, but I still feel like shit." He grumbled before tossing the controller to the side in frustration. "Why is rainbow road so fucking hard?!" He shoved a pillow over his head to let out a muffled groan.

Kaoru picked up the controller and looked at the settings before letting out a small chuckle. "And you got it on 50cc. You really must suck."

"Shut up, as if you can play any better." Hikaru growled as he removed the pillow from his face and glared at his brother for a few moments before finally speaking up again. "Want to play with me?"

"I don't know." Kaoru teased as he started a new race. "Are you really wanting to lose that badly?"

"Oh, someone is a little cocky bastard aren't they?" Hikaru gave a challenging smirk that matched Kaoru's. "You're on."

For the next few hours, the twins just played games. With their jobs keeping them busy for most of the time, having days like this were rare, but Kaoru treasured them the most.

After a few races (which they tied at the numbers of races they won) they decided to catch up on some shows they never finished watching.

Kaoru's eyes slowly fluttered open and adjusted to the bright TV screen that lit up the darkroom. He must've fallen asleep without realizing it. He rubbed his eyes as he yawned and looked at the clock to see that it was around midnight. He should probably head to his own room so he could go to sleep, but as he looked over at his brother peacefully sleeping next to him he was beginning to get second thoughts. Maybe he should just stay here for tonight. Hikaru was sick, and even though he's most likely be fine for the rest of the night, he just wanted to keep a close eye on him to make sure.

Kaoru turned off the TV before getting under the covers with his brother. He looked at Hikaru one last time to make sure that he was alright before drifting off back to sleep.

…

_*Crash*_

Kaoru jumped awake by the startling sound and looked over his shoulder to see his brother was missing from the bed. Along with the lamp that was supposed to be on the nightstand beside him.

"Hikaru..?"

When his senses were finally starting to come back after waking up a bit more, he noticed he began to just barely hear a sound as if someone was struggling to breathe. He slowly sat up and looked over the side of the bed to see broken glass...and his brother on his hands and knees on the floor gasping for air!

"Hikaru!" Kaoru exclaimed as he jumped out of bed and ran over to his brother's side. "Hikaru, what's wrong? Can you speak?"

"I…" He gasped out as he put his hand to his neck. "I...I can't...breathe…"

"L-Let me call an ambulance! Hold on!" Kaoru jumped back on his feet and began searching for his phone. "Shit, shit, shit!" There was no time to search, if he couldn't call an ambulance then he has to find someone who could.

He pulled the door open and to his luck, he saw a maid was here early to start cleaning. "Call an ambulance!" Kaoru shouted, startling the maid. "My brother can't breathe! Please call!"

The maid nodded before pulling out her phone to dial. With that taken care of, Kaoru rushed back over to his brother, who was still struggling to breathe.

"Do you think you ate anything you're allergic to?"

Hikaru shrugged, still unable to respond. The twins never really had any allergic reactions to anything before, and they didn't eat anything new. Also, Hikaru has barely eaten anything in the past couple of days so what could be happening to him?

Everything next happened in a blur as the ambulance arrived and took Hikaru away. Their mom decided to ride in the ambulance with Hikaru so she could keep him calm since Kaoru was in too much shock to do anything and their father stayed behind to help Kaoru.

Kaoru just stood in the driveway of their mansion, looking out in the direction of where the ambulance took Hikaru away only ten minutes ago.

He then felt a soft pat on his shoulder, breaking him out of his daze. He looked over to see his father. He might've had a brave face on, but Kaoru could tell in his eyes that he was just as terrified as he was.

"Come on, let's get some rest. We'll visit them first thing in the morning."

Kaoru could only nod as his dad turned him to start walking towards the house with only one thing on his mind. How the hell did this happen?


	10. Chapter 9

**Kaoru**

Kaoru couldn't get any more sleep for the remainder of the night. All he could think about was Hikaru and the terrifying scene of Hikaru on the floor having difficulties breathing. As they were in the car on the way to the hospital, Kaoru couldn't help but impatiently bounce his leg as his dad was driving at a safe speed. If Kaoru was behind the wheel, he would be breaking almost every law known to man, and that's why his dad made him sit in the passenger side so they wouldn't end up in the hospital themselves.

"How's Hikaru?" Were the first words of his mouth as he spotted his mother sitting in the waiting room. Just like him and his father, she looked like she barely got a wink of sleep as she sat in a chair with a blanket a nurse must've given her.

"He's in stable condition right now, but the doctors are keeping a close eye on him while he's asleep."

"Do they know what happened to him that could've caused this?"

His mom just shrugged her shoulders. "They aren't one hundred percent sure. They said it could've been an allergic reaction to something but I don't know what he consumed to make him have such a bad reaction."

"Neither can I. I've been with him all yesterday and he hasn't…" Then it hit him and he let out a loud gasp. "The remedy!"

"The what?"

"Hikaru's new nurse made this remedy to try and help him with his withdrawals. I remember the day after he took it the first time that's when he got sick."

"What?!" His mother exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me that was the reason why he got so sick?!"

"Because we weren't one hundred percent sure that was what was causing him to be so sick or if it was just withdrawals or something…"

His mother just let out a low growl in response before taking out her phone and dialed a number before placing it to her ear. "Hello Maiko, this is Yuzuha. Do you mind coming down to the hospital for a bit? Hikaru had to be admitted last night and we need to talk."

…

Kaoru sat in the chair next to Hikaru's hospital bed, watching his chest slowly rise and fall as he slept. Just to make sure that he was still breathing. Kaoru hasn't been in a situation like this since Hikaru almost overdosed a few years ago. An hour after arriving at the hospital the doctor came in and said that the cause of Hikaru's drop-in health was more of him being poisoned by substances mixed together rather than an allergic reaction. Their mother began panicking and asking the doctor many questions. One after another, making it difficult for him to answer any of the questions. Once he was finally able to interject, he said that they were able to get Hikaru's stomach pumped just in time before whatever was poisoning could do any significant amount of damage.

Their mother paced the hospital room angrily, looking at the time on her watch. "Where is she?" She growled. "I called her two hours ago and she said she'd be right over."

"Calm down honey. I'm sure there's-"

"No, I'm not going to calm down!" Yuzuha practically screamed at her husband. "This woman practically poisoned our son and you're telling me to calm down?!"

"I'm just as furious as you are honey, but just working yourself up isn't going to help anything. Maiko said she was stuck in traffic when we called her thirty minutes ago. She'll be here soon, so just try and relax a lot before she gets here so we can have a "calm" conversation and ask her what she gave Hikaru that could've poisoned him."

"But…" Her husband raised an eyebrow at her and she just let out a sigh. "Fine, I'll try to relax."

She sat down on the couch next to her as they continued to wait for Maiko to show up. The next hour or so passed by slowly and now Kaoru was starting to get agitated. She lived at most an hour away from the hospital with heavy traffic. There was no way in hell it should take her three fucking hours to get here.

He heard his father let out a frustrated groan and pull out his phone, seeming as if he was about to call Maiko but before he could dial her number there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Yuzuha straightened up on the couch.

The door opened a few moments later and the family was greeted by a nurse with Maiko following close behind her. At the sight of her, the whole family stood up and the calm smile on her face almost made Kaoru feel sick. How could she be smiling at a time like this?!

"I'll give you all some privacy." The nurse said, sensing the tension in the air before leaving.

There were a few tense moments of silence as the family stared at Maiko down who just looked at each one of the family members. Not seeming to notice the tension in the air.

"So how is he doing after that scare last night?" Maiko asked.

"He's doing a lot better.." Mr. Hitachiin reassured her with a short answer.

"Did they find out what caused this sudden attack?"

"Yes," Yuzuha hissed out through clenched teeth. "It seems that my son was poisoned with a mixture that he was given."

"Really? Do they know what mixture could've done it?"

Yuzuha let out a growl and took a step forward towards Maiko, but her husband held his arm out to keep her back.

"Mrs. Hashimoto, we were informed that you had given Hikaru a drink during your first appointment with him that was a mixture of different ingredients. After he started drinking those he began to grow very sick."

Maiko just stood there as if she was confused for a few moments before letting out a small chuckle. "No, no that can't be. My remedies have never poisoned anyone."

"Then how do you explain why my son is laying in a hospital bed right before us with the doctors saying he was poisoned?!" Yuzuha barked, which Maiko just shrugged her shoulders too.

It was almost haunting for Kaoru to watch how nonchalantly Maiko was acting. She was being accused of poisoning Hikaru and could be at risk of going to jail. Even if she didn't intentionally try to poison Hikaru, it still happened and it seemed like she didn't give two shits about it.

"I don't know what to say Mrs. Hitachiin. My remedies don't harm people. They help cleanse people. The only way my remedies could be somewhat harmful is if they're still taking drugs with it. It doesn't mix well with any illegal drugs. I made sure of that."

An eerie silence fell over the hospital room as Maiko's words began to sink in. There could be no way, Kaoru and Haruhi searched Hikaru's room and found his entire drug stash and made sure Ichiro stopped selling to him as well. So where could he have gotten the drugs from?

"Honey," Yuzuha said in a dark tone, where if Kaoru was in Maiko's shoes he would be shaking in fear. "Could you go get the nurse so they can give Hikaru a drug test?" Her husband nodded as she gave Maiko a murderous glare. "And as for you, I want you gone."

"Mrs. Hitachiin, I truly am sorry that your son is sick." She gave another _"sweet"_ smile before continuing. "But it's not my fault that your son can't control giving in to his cravings. A doctor can only do so much. Maybe if you took the time to pay attention to your children, then you would've noticed the signs of him relapsing and he wouldn't be in this situation."

With that, Yuzuha finally snapped and launched herself at Maiko, but before she could lay a hand on her, Yuzuha's husband grabbed a hold of her. Trying her best to keep hold of her as she struggled.

"I think it is best for all of us Mrs. Hashimoto if we start looking for another nurse for our son."

Maiko just continued to smile, as if she didn't have a care in the world. "That's alright Mr. Hitachiin. Not all patients are willing to get clean so my methods will not work while his soul is shrouded in darkness. If he is ever willing to get clean I'm always here-"

"Get out!" Kaoru roared throughout the room, causing everyone to grow quiet. His heart was pounding so loud in his chest that he could hear it echoing in his ears as his body began trembling in anger. He was using all of his might not to explode on Maiko at that moment. "I think it would be the best for all of us if you just left now Maiko."

"Sir-"

"Now!"

Maiko just nodded and left the hospital room without another word. Once the door closed shut, Kaoru fell back down in the chair, placing his head in his hands to cover his face as tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

"I'm going to go fetch a nurse." His father said softly before leaving the room.

Once the door clicked shut, Kaoru felt a pair of arms wrap around him and pulled him into a hug.

"It's ok sweetie." His mom said in a comforting voice as she rubbed his back. "Everything is going to be alright."

"I really thought that he was finally starting to get clean again." Kaoru choked out, trying his hardest not to let his voice crack, but it seemed his mom heard it by how she tightened her arms around him.

"It's ok to be emotional at a time like this. You don't need to hold anything in."

As if a dam had finally broken. All of the emotions Kaoru was feeling came out all at once. He hated feeling weak and vulnerable in front of people because he felt like he had to be the rock for everybody, especially his brother but now he just couldn't keep anything in at the moment as everything was just too much for him.

…

Once the drug test came back it showed to be positive to the family's disappointment. Kaoru knew that he shouldn't be shocked after all the shit Maiko had told them about her remedies worked, but he was just hopeful.

After finding out that Hikaru was still using, he could barely face his brother. He was there when Hikaru woke up a few hours later and tried to remain calm when he confronted Hikaru about using. Hikaru seemed like he wanted to try and defend himself, but decided it wasn't worth the time. So he just confessed to everything and apologized. With that, Kaoru just left and hasn't returned to the hospital to see his brother in the past few days.

He was a mess and he hated to admit it, but he felt like he was out of options. Every fucking nurse they got Hikaru would chase them away and he still refused to go back to rehab so Kaoru had no idea what to do. He felt helpless…

He did have one more plan that he prayed that would work, but the problem is he wouldn't know if the person would actually want to help them since they didn't leave on the greatest of note last time. Especially on Hikaru's part.

Kaoru stood in front of their door with a shaky hand up to knock, but he was hesitant. What if they said no, then what was he going to do? This was his last resort to try and get his brother to get clean and if they denied his job offer...he didn't even want to imagine what might happen in the near future.

"It's worth a try," Kaoru whispered to himself before finally getting the courage to knock.

He waited anxiously as he heard muffled footsteps from the other side of the door and couldn't help but jump when he heard the door unlock just a few moments later. As the door opened, he was greeted by the confused face of the person he was desperate to see.

"Kaoru, what are you doing here?" Kaoru looked into her brown eyes and she could tell something was wrong. "What's wrong?"

"Haruhi…" He choked out, his voice slightly cracking from all the emotion that was threatening to spill out. "I need you…"


	11. Chapter 10

**Haruhi**

Haruhi placed down a cup of coffee in front of Kaoru before taking a seat across from him at the dinner table. Being surprised would be an understatement when she saw him outside her door, looking almost completely lost. Just by seeing his appearance alone, she could tell something was up. His light brown hair looked unkempt as if he hasn't taken care of it for days. He was dressed in dark jeans and a loose hoodie, which was the complete opposite of what he usually wore. His unshaven face and the dark circles under his eyes that indicated to her that he hasn't gotten that much sleep in the past couple of days. He was a mess and he had no intention of hiding it.

"So…" Haruhi finally broke the awkward silence as she just watched Kaoru stare hopelessly into his cup of coffee. "What did you want my help with? I'm assuming by the way you're acting it has something to do with Hikaru."

Kaoru let out a small sigh, finally looking away from the coffee he was staring into. "I just don't know what to do. I really thought this time we were finally making progress, but it was all a sham…"

"I take it that the hospital that you took him to found out he was still using."

Kaoru looked up at Haruhi surprised. "Wait, how did…"

"It was all over the gossip sites my dad reads. It didn't say anything about him being on drugs or anything, but just that he was admitted to the hospital. Nothing about him being on drugs or anything."

"Well, I guess that's one good thing out of this whole shitfest." Kaoru palmed his face. Clearly irritated that the press found out about Hikaru's hospitalization so quickly. "What am I going to do? For two months we've been trying to get him clean again and nothing has been working. I'm about to lose all hope…"

"Kaoru…"

"I hate to say it but it's true." Kaoru began wiping his eyes with his jacket sleeve to prevent the tears from falling, but it was futile. "I love him so much but I can't stand to watch him go down this road again of killing himself."

"And you think disowning him would make you feel any better?"

"No...it would make me feel much worse. It'll make me feel more of a terrible brother than I already am."

Haruhi literally felt her heart break as those words left Kaoru's mouth. Even though she has only known Kaoru for a month or two she could tell easily that he cared about Hikaru and always put his brother's well being before his.

She gently placed her hand on top of his, giving him a sad, but encouraging smile. "Kaoru, I may not know you that well, but I do know one thing and that is that you are anything but a terrible brother. You are doing everything in your willpower to try and save Hikaru. If you really were so terrible as you said you are you wouldn't be jumping from nurse to nurse to try and help him. A real terrible brother would have left himself to deal with addiction alone or just watch him kill himself with all the drugs he has been taking. I should know because I met people who are like that." She gave Kaoru's hand a light squeeze. "You are a terrific brother Kaoru. You may not feel like one right now because of Hikaru's relapses, but you're doing everything in your power to try and help him. Which an amazing brother would do."

Kaoru seemed like he couldn't hold back his tears any longer as a few began trailing his cheeks. Haruhi could easily tell that Kaoru didn't fully believe her at that moment but he also needed to hear those words.

Kaoru cleared his throat and wiped his face as he tried to compose himself. "Thank you...I think I really needed to hear that. Especially after these past few days have been hell for me." He took a long sip of his coffee and Haruhi couldn't help but notice his hands were slightly shaking still. Then the words that he greeted her with came back to her mind.

_'I need you…'_

Could he be nervous to ask her what he needed? If he needed help looking for a nurse he shouldn't be nervous to ask. She was willing to help him if he was in need.

"So, when you were at my door saying you needed me, did you mean you needed me to help you find a new nurse?"

"Well uh...not exactly," Kaoru said as he placed down his coffee cup.

"Then what do you need me for?"

"Haruhi, I know we've only known each other for only about two months and you're still studying to become a nurse but I think you're our only hope in helping Hikaru get fully over his addiction."

"Kaoru…" She sighed.

"Look, I know Hikaru is a handful and he can be a bastard at times, but I think you're our only hope.

"And you think he's going to listen to me?" Haruhi almost laughed.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but you're the only person that has really challenged Hikaru and didn't back down when he got angry. All the other nurses would either give in to his demands out of fear or give in to lust because he would promise to sleep with them."

"Really? And the nurses would actually give him drugs just to sleep with him?"

Kaoru nodded sadly."He would never actually sleep with them, thank God. But he would use their lust for him as an advantage for him to get what he wanted.

Haruhi couldn't hold back the disgusted look on her face. She could never fathom how a nurse who had taken years of schooling jeopardized their career to get drugs for a patient just so they can sleep with them. Pathetic.

"I know this is a lot to ask for and it's all of a sudden but I'm begging you to at least think about it."

"Kaoru-"

"The pay will be really well. WAY more than the job you have now and I'll even convince my parents to pay for the rent and food. My mom can give you guys clothing-"

"Woah, woah, slow down." Haruhi held up her hands to get him to stop. "Kaoru, I get that you're desperate. I really do, but don't you think you would want someone with an actual degree in nursing to help your brother?"

"We've already tried and none of them worked."

"I'm sorry Kaoru, but I don't think I'm qualified to help you guys just yet."

Kaoru let out a loud groan and laid his head on the table. Haruhi felt bad that she couldn't help, but she knew it was best for the Hitachiin family to hire a nurse that actually completed their entire schooling and volunteering hours.

After a few moments, Kaoru's head slowly raised up, a small mischievous glint in his eyes.

"How about we make a deal?"

"Kaoru," Haruhi warned, afraid where this deal might be.

"Just hear me out, ok?" Kaoru pleaded. The look he was giving her was almost like a desperate puppy and she couldn't bring herself to say no.

"Fine," Haruhi huffed as she gave in. "I'll hear out this deal?"

A small smile spread across his lips. "Ok, so when I first met you I vaguely remember Eshima mentioning that you really wanted to go to nursing school right after you graduated college this year, but even with two paying jobs you can't afford it."

"Yeah."

"How about if you agree to at least try and help Hikaru for about a month, we will pay for your schooling?"

If it could be possible, Haruhi's jaw would've dropped to the floor. Kaoru was willing to pay over $80,000 for her schooling just so she could attempt to help his brother.

_'Fuck, they must be really desperate.'_

"So, what do you say?"

Haruhi bit her lip as she actually contemplated taking his deal or not. If she did take this deal she would be able to afford the school of her dreams, and if she was successful it would help her get into the best program they had. But if she failed at helping Hikaru she could actually ruin his life if she's not careful enough and even though the Hitachiin family would be paying for her schooling, the word might go out about her failure and it might make people think twice about hiring her.

"Give me a day or two to think about it."

Kaoru nodded and she could tell he was trying his best to bite back the smile that was forming on his face. "Sure thing and I'll be happy with any decision you make. I'm just thankful you're just considering it."

* * *

**Hikaru**

I've been in the hospital for a few days now and I was fucking miserable. They wanted to keep me here a little longer than planned because they wanted to make sure whatever the shit Maiko gave me didn't internally damage anything, but I was beginning to grow stir crazy and my withdrawals have been kicking me in the face hard. However, I was in a hospital so it shouldn't be that hard to get some drugs here, especially opioids. I just have to find a nurse and try to convince them to give me some.

"So, how are you feeling this morning Mr. Hitachiin?" A nurse asked as she walked into my room. Found my target.

I just shrugged my shoulder as I laid my hand over my stomach. My body still hurts, I wasn't going to lie but it wasn't so bad that I needed medication for it."

"Really tired," I said, using my award-winning acting skills to my advantage. "I barely got any sleep last night because my body still aches."

"Oh well, would you like me to get you anything to help with the pain?"

"What's the medication? I just want to make sure I'm not allergic to it."

"It'd be Vicodin."

Hmm, Vicodin was a nice high, it wasn't as strong as oxycodone or anything, but I wasn't in the mood for anything light.

"Mhmmm, the last time I took that after a sugary and I had a reaction to it where my throat got scratching and swollen."

"Oh, really?" She asked as she began flipping through the notes on her clipboard.

"Yeah, and from what I remember the doctor prescribed me with another medication. I think it had the word rock or something in the name."

"Roxicet?"

"Yes, I think that's what it was called. If you can get me that, that'll be great."

"Well, according to the paperwork that your family filled out, you have a history of drug abuse. So you won't be getting Roxicet or Vicodin."

I clenched my jaw to try and keep up the facade. Ok, if I can't get drugs just by asking, I guess I'll have to use my other strategy.

I gave the nurse another smile, but this time more flirtatious. I looked up at her name tag.

_'Kiko, hmm.'_

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying anything bad. I wouldn't want a beautiful woman like you to get in trouble Kiko."

"Oh, you think I'm beautiful?" The nurse asked with a smile as she batted her lashes. I got her right where I wanted her.

"Yes, anybody in their right mind could tell that you're gorgeous."

She brushed her hair behind her ear as she smiled at me and even though I was smiling back at her I was smirking on the inside.

"I'd be sure to tell my partner that a world-famous celebrity said that to me today."

...Ok, she had a partner, but I can still work through that. It may be a bit harder because most of them are committed, but I have gotten through most of them to get the drugs that I wanted. "Well, tell your boyfriend that I said he's a lucky man to have you as a partner."

"I'll be sure to tell my _'girlfriend'_ that you said that."

...Girfriend, ok I can still...oh fuck it.

My facade finally fell into a scowl and the nurse couldn't help but snicker.

"I know all the tricks Mr. Hitachiin. I've been a nurse for quite some time now." She began looking through her notes again. "So if you really are in pain, I can give you some Tylenol, but nothing more."

I gave her a tight smile. "You know, thank God you're only a nurse because if I ever got deathly ill I wouldn't want you as a doctor."

The nurse only smirked at me before putting the clipboard down. "You have a guest waiting for you. Would you like me to send them in?"

"Whatever," I grumbled, no longer wanting to engage in a conversation with her.

The nurse left shortly after checking my vitals to get whatever guest that wanted to see me. I really hoped that it was Kaoru. I hadn't seen him in a few days. I knew he was mad at me, and he had a right to, but I didn't know he would be _"this"_ mad at me. He wasn't even this upset when I relapsed the first time, but I guess he was almost at his breaking point with me...and I don't blame him…

I let out a sigh as I palmed my face, now actually feeling the pain of the withdrawals really starting to set in. Maybe I should have gotten the Tylenol, it barely would've helped but at least it'll dim the pain a little bit so maybe I could actually get some sleep later.

My ears perked up when I heard food fall down the hall making their way towards my room and instantly my mood shifted from irritated to ecstatic when I saw Kaoru walk through the door, but I didn't let him see how happy I was to see him. I could still tell that he was upset with me by the small scowl on his face, but I was just glad that he was here.

"How are you feeling?" Kaoru asked as he walked over to the side of my bed.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Eh, alright. A lot better than when I first got admitted."

"I can tell."

An awkward silence fell between us for the next few moments or so and it was torture. It has rarely ever been awkward between us. I'd say the last time it was when I got back together with Nariko after only a week of splitting up, but it wasn't this bad.

I cleared my throat to try and break the awkward tension. "So, uh...what's up?"

Kaoru quirked an eyebrow at my question. "What's up? Really?"

"Well, I haven't seen you in about two days so I just wanted to know what you've been up to…"

I could see his jaw tensing up and I knew I must've struck a nerve. Well, there goes my hope for a pleasant visit.

"If you really want to know _'what's up,'_ I've been at home trying to figure out what it's going to take to get through you're fucking thick skull for you to try and get better."

"I have been trying," I argued back.

"Oh, you have? Because it sure doesn't seem like it. We provided you with nurse after nurse, offered to take you back to rehab and have been patient with you Hikaru, but you keep trying ways yo feed your addiction. I mean, for God's sake Hikaru you just tried flirting with the nurse a few minutes ago to try and get some opioids. That doesn't look like you're trying very hard."

"You don't understand," I grumbled.

"No, I don't understand Hikaru. I'll admit that I don't understand the pain that you're going through, but what I mostly don't understand is why were you so willing to get help back when your addiction first started but now you keep trying to hide that you're using and fight us when we find out. Are you trying to kill yourself?"

I began fiddling with the hospital blanket as I avoided his gaze. Too ashamed to even look at him. "No…"

I heard him let out a deep huff before pulling up a chair to sit. His voice now calm. "Look, I understand this is really hard for you, but to us, it just seems like you're not trying because you keep falling back into it. I don't want to relive our lives from when we were eighteen, and I have a feeling neither do you."

I shook my head. A few months after graduating high school was the darkest time of our lives that my whole family just wants to forget about. I was young and stupid, pretending I was invincible while in reality I was scared shitless and doing all that because of peer pressure.

"Hikaru, I love you. I really do, but I can't keep doing this if you're not going to accept my help. If you really want to get better you need to start cooperating with us, alright?"

"Ok." I huffed.

"We're giving you one last chance," Kaoru stated in a stern tone, which told me he was actually serious. "If you fuck up with this new nurse I am done. Got that?"

"Yes…"

I felt like a little kid getting scolded by his parents. It was embarrassing that my own twin was doing it to me since I was technically the oldest. I knew Kaoru wasn't going to actually give up on me since he cared about me too much to do so, but a little part of me was scared that one day he would get fed up with me one day and just leave…

"So, who's my new nurse?" I asked.

A small smirk spread across his face and it made me start to feel uneasy. Who could he have hired? A fucking former drill sergeant?

"Oh, just someone who I know won't put up with any of you shit. Like the other times, you've met her."

"Who?"

His smirk only grew as I just remained confused. I had no idea who he was talking about. The only nurse that I knew who didn't put up with my shit was Eshima, but she doesn't do outpatient rehab. The only other "nurse" I knew who wouldn't put up with my shit was…

It finally clicked in my head and my eyes grew wide. "No…"

"Yep." Kaoru smirked as he leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. "Once you get discharged from the hospital tomorrow, Haruhi is officially becoming your rehabilitation nurse."

If I had to choose to either have Haruhi as my nurse or the drill sargent...I'd rather take the drill sergeant any day.


	12. Chapter 11

**Haruhi**

"Did you make sure to pack a lunch?"

"I'm sure that they have food inside the house."

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you up? It's understandable to be intimidated on your first day."

"I'll be fine dad. I'm not a child anymore."

Ranka sighed as he placed down his fork. He had woken up early so he could make sure he could have breakfast with Haruhi before her first day of work. Just like he did with every other first days she had since she was little. "I know, it's just that this is such a big step towards your future career and it's just bringing up old memories of me dropping you off at school when you were a kid and being worried about you even though I knew everything would be alright."

Haruhi gave her father a reassuring smile. "I really appreciate the concern dad, but I'm not a child anymore. I can take care of myself and conquer any obstacle that comes at me and a spoiled rich kid isn't going to change that."

Ranka let out a small chuckle. "I wish I had as much determination as you. You really are your mother's daughter." Haruhi couldn't help but smile at that compliment. "I guess I'm mostly worried about your new patient. Since the last time, we visited him you almost ended up with a broken nose."

Haruhi involuntarily twitched her nose as she remembered when Hikaru's elbow made contact with it. The doctor said she was lucky that her nose didn't break by the sheer amount of force Hikaru used. He obviously didn't mean to hurt her, it just happened in the moment without him realizing it, but fuck did it hurt and it left her with nasty bruise for at least two weeks.

"I should be fine," Haruhi said. "Kaoru is going to be there as well as some of the other staff. So I'm not worried."

"Well, if you think you'll be ok I'll try not to worry as much. However, I am worried about that Hikaru boy."

"And why is that?"

"Because he doesn't know what's going to hit him once you step through those doors." He said. "You won't put up with any of his shit."

Haruhi couldn't help but laugh. "I'd learned from the best."

…

Haruhi stared up at the towering dark wooden doors in front of her as she could now feel her stomach began to churn. Have those doors always been that tall? She was now starting to feel nervous. Not from having to deal with Hikaru, but because this all could make or break her career.

She took a deep breath in and out to try and calm her nerves. "I can do this. He's nothing I haven't handled before."

When she finally built up the courage she knocked on the door and once her knuckles hit the hard, slick wood she knew there was no turning back now.

Within a matter of seconds, as if they were just sitting by the door waiting for her, the door opened and she was greeted by a smiling Kaoru.

"Great, you came right on time. Come in."

Once Haruhi entered the house, Kaoru began leading her down past the living room towards the kitchen.

"So uh, where's Hikaru?" Haruhi asked as she sat down at the counter as Kaoru poured her a cup of tea.

"Still sleeping."

"At noon?"

Kaoru nodded as he leaned on the counter. "Yep, since he's been on lockdown he's been pretty sleeping the day away. Granted, I wouldn't be so hard on him today since he got discharged from the hospital today at six in the morning, and the medicine they gave him makes him drowsy."

Haruhi gave a slight nod as she took a sip of her tea, finally noticing Kaoru was dressed a little too formal than usual. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, since Hikaru can't do anything until he's clean. I've been doing both our jobs. It's overwhelming sometimes, but it has to be done."

"When are you leaving?"

"In about an hour but don't worry, I'll be sure Hikaru is on his best behavior before I leave." As if on cue, the sound of sluggish footsteps were heard as Hikaru entered the kitchen.

"Well, speak of the devil," Kaoru said as he stood up and faced his brother. "Did you have a nice nap sleeping beauty?" Hikaru responded by glaring at his brother before making his way over to the coffee pot. "I'm going to take that as a no."

Hikaru just ignored him as he poured himself some coffee and grabbed a piece of toast before making a B-line towards the hall.

"No, no, no." Kaoru chased after his brother and grabbed him before he could leave the kitchen. Once he got a hold of Hikaru's arm he turned and led him over to the counter where Haruhi was sitting at. "Now I promised Haruhi that I'd make you play nice so you're not an asshole to her after I leave."

"If she's as good of a nurse as you all keep claiming she is she wouldn't need your fucking help." He grumbled. He was then met with a well-deserved slap on the back of the head and Haruhi had to hold her teacup over her lips to hide her smile. "Ow!"

"Be nice!" Kaoru scolded.

"You already know my head fucking hurts you asshole!"

Kaoru just shrugged, not really caring as he took a sip of his own coffee. "If you didn't lie and actually tried to stay clean then your head wouldn't be hurting would it?"

"Fuck you!"

"Oh, we're using naughty words. How scary."

That comment seemed to anger Hikaru even more as Haruhi noticed his body begin to stiffen. She had a flashback of the dinner last month of how Hikaru's body reacted the same way before exploding, and since he was irritated more easily due to withdrawals it wouldn't take much to set him off like that again.

_'I guess I'm not just helping Hikaru deal with his addiction.'_

As Hikaru and Kaoru continued bickering, Haruhi finally had enough.

"Stop it both of you!"

Both men froze and looked over at Haruhi, shocked as she gave them stern looks. As if she was a teacher who was done with their students bull shit. Her glare first landed on Kaoru, who almost flinched under her glare.

"Kaoru, I get that you are upset with Hikaru but pestering him is not going to do anything other than irritate him further. From what I saw at the dinner you and your family are the ones who usually indicate the fights. If you guys truly want Hikaru to get better you all need to approach him calmly and respectfully. Not by saying witty remarks that you know will get under his skin."

Kaoru just nodded, too in shock to really say anything other than, "Yes ma'am."

Her attention then turned over towards Hikaru, who finally seemed to snap out of his own shock and soon scowled at her as she started scolding him.

"Hikaru, I get that you're in a lot of pain right now, but realizing your own frustrations on others isn't going to help anything. I've heard of your poor reputation at the rehab center with you throwing shit and cursing at people, which will not happen with me or there WILL be serious consequences. You got that?!"

Hikaru just narrowed his eyes at her and she did the same. She wasn't going to back down. He might be far taller and stronger than her, but that didn't scare her one bit. She was not going to put up with the shit he did with the other nurses. Kaoru had told her all of Hikaru's tricks, so he won't be using those to get anything out of her.

Hikaru just let out a huff before grumbling, "Whatever," under his breath as he took a bite of his toast.

Kaoru looked between the two again in shock by the interaction between the two then soon smiled. Seeming pleased by the outcome of it.

"Well, I guess I don't have to be as worried as I thought. You seem like you got this under control." Kaoru looked at the time on his watch. "Shit, I have to get going before mom gets mad that I'm late. Haruhi you're in charge, and Hikaru," he pointed at him. "Behave yourself."

"When do I not?"

Kaoru hummed out a laugh before lightly ruffling his brother's already mussed hair. He then walked over to Haruhi and leaned down to whisper in her ear. _"If he gets too out of hand, call me."_

"I should be fine," Haruhi replied as she caught Hikaru's eyes again in an intense battle. "He should be the one worried."

…

While Hikaru finished up breakfast, Haruhi began the preparations for the first activities she had on her schedule. As she beamed while volunteering at the rehab center. Everything is almost scheduled based. It helps keep the patients always busy so they have less chance of thinking about satisfying their addiction. Usually, the schedules are meant for the entire day from when the patient wakes up to the time they go to sleep, but today she wants to just get to know Hikaru more. Find out his likes and dislikes so she can plan out more things to do in the future, and who knows, maybe they'll start to get along. However, she did make notes that he does manipulate, so she'll have to watch out for any tricks that he might throw at her.

Once Hikaru was done eating and Haruhi had finished up making the plans for the day, she was glad to find Hikaru sitting on the porch like she requested and sat across from him. He didn't seem to notice her as he texted away on his phone, probably complaining to one of his many celebrity friends that he had to put up with Haruhi being his nurse.

After a few moments of Hikaru still not acknowledging her, she cleared her throat to grab his attention. Which he just responded by moving his eyes up to look at her.

"Are you ready to get started?" Haruhi asked.

"Yeah, sure." He grumbled as he looked back down at his phone. "Whatever."

Haruhi glared at him but continued to ask him first a few questions in hope that he'll actually start listening to her. "So Hikaru, when was the last time you used anything?"

He just shrugged a response.

"So you don't know?"

This time he didn't even give her a response. Haruhi could actually feel her anger boiling up.

_'Calm down Haruhi. You don't want to get arrested for murdering your patient on the first day. Keep calm.'_

"What were the last drugs that you used?"

Again, nothing. He was just typing away on his damn phone! She had enough of it and reached over the table and snatched it away from him.

"Hey!"

"From now on, no phones during our sessions together unless I give you permission to use it."

"You can't do that!" Hikaru protested.

Haruhi smirked as she placed his phone at the side of the table. "Actually, I can. Your brother put me in charge. So I can do whatever I want to get you to listen."

He raised an eyebrow at her, his own smirk starting to spread across his lips. "Whatever you want, huh? I didn't know you were the dominant type."

A wave of disgust washed over her as she finally understood what he meant and rolled her eyes. "That wasn't what I meant and you know it. So get your mind out of the gutter." She took out her own phone and placed it next to his. "Now that we both won't get distracted, are you ready to start again?"

Hikaru let out a huff but didn't protest as he leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. "Fine, let's get this fucking over with."

Haruhi began asking all the basic questions again. How Hikaru felt that day if he had any cravings, etc. To which Hikaru just responded dryly with, "Yeah, no, I don't know," and nothing else. It was annoying the living shit out of her, but at least she was finally getting answers out of him. However, once she was done asking all the basic questions and was about to go over the schedule she planned out for the day, Hikaru stood up from his hair.

"And where do you think you're going?" Haruhi asked.

"Back to bed," Hikaru replied as he stretched his arms over his head.

"But we're just getting started. We still have the whole day to get through."

"I've had a long and painful past few days and with the medication they prescribed me it's wearing me out."

"But I made a schedule of everything I planned for us to do today."

Hikaru just gave her a shrug, not caring at all as he shoved his hands in his sweater pockets. "Not my problem and all I'm going to do is sleep all day, it's not like I'm leaving the house to go anywhere."

He began walking towards the door and Haruhi shot up from her chair. "You know that's not how rehab works, Hikaru."

He turned to her, a devilish smirk on his face. "This isn't rehab babe. It's my house."

And with that, Hikaru headed inside. Haruhi couldn't describe the amount of anger she was feeling at the exact moment, but she really needed to hold herself back from chasing after him and throwing her planner at him before making him cooperate with her, but if she did it wouldn't end well for either of them so she just sat back down in her chair. He did have a slight point though. He was just going to sleep all day, which was better than him just leaving the house to who knows where.

She let out a sigh as she looked down at the schedule she wasted her time on making that day.

'I wonder if all the other nurses' first days were this difficult?'

Since Haruhi technically was free for the next few hours, she decided to get some studying done for her upcoming classes in the fall and to also help her deal with Hikaru a lot better than she did today. She was going to allow him to sleep for a few more hours, but after that, she was going to make him work with her.

…

Four quiet hours passed by and Haruhi really didn't know what else to do. She had done all the studying her brain could handle that day, wrote a rough draft of the schedules for the upcoming weeks, and even had an hour-long phone conversation with a fellow nurse so she can give Haruhi some tips on how to deal with stubborn patients. Every thirty minutes or so she would check up on Hikaru, seeing if he was alright and if he was actually sleeping, which she relieved that he was.

When 5:30 came along, she began to feel a little hungry. Kaoru had mentioned that they had a chief but if Haruhi wanted to cook anything she was more than welcome to, especially since the chief had the day off today.

She gathered all the ingredients from the fridge and cabinets that she needed and began preparing dinner for her and Hikaru if he would be awake to eat it. He might be a pain in the ass, but she shouldn't let him starve throughout the night, even though she might be tempted to if he makes any snarky comments about her food.

As she was chopping up some vegetables, she heard footsteps dragging their way into the kitchen. She turned to see an actual well-rested Hikaru make his way into the kitchen.

_'Shit, I guess he really did need that nap.'_

His eyes fell on Haruhi once he noticed her and stopped in his tracks. She was preparing herself for the insults he was going to throw at her for cooking in his kitchen, but instead of scowling at her as she expected, he just raised an eyebrow.

"What are you making?"

Haruhi just blinked a bit, taken aback by the way he just spoke to her. From all the other times she had met him at the hospital he was always rude to her. So when he spoke to her normally she almost thought this had to be Kaoru playing a trick on her because there was no way Hikaru would be nice to her, but as she studied him more it actually was Hikaru himself.

"I'm cooking dinner for us." Haruhi smiled. "Care to join me?"

He shrugged his shoulders, seeming a bit shy even more to Haruhi's surprise. "I don't know, I'm not really the best cook."

"I can show you. It's not that difficult." She motioned him to come over. "Come on."

Hikaru seemed a little hesitant at first, either not wanting to be close to Haruhi, or he was just nervous to do something he wasn't really familiar with, but to her delight, he made his way over to her to help.

"So uh, what are we making?"

"Curry," Haruhi replied. "You like curry, right?"

He gave her another shrug. "It's alright I guess. I like it spicy though."

"We can arrange that." Haruhi slid over some vegetables to him on a cutting board. "Mince these while I prepare the rest of the ingredients."

"Uh, alright."

Haruhi left Hikaru to work on that as she began preparing everything else for the curry. When a few minutes passed by she checked up on Hikaru and saw that he did a decent job at mincing the vegetables.

"Nice job." She smiled as she walked back over to him. "It's a little big, but we can work with it."

Haruhi tossed the vegetables in the pan to let them simmer and gave Hikaru another task to do. Throughout cooking together, Hikaru was very cooperative with her. He didn't snap at her, give her any attitude or any insults, unlike this morning. It was as if he was a different person. Not really the outgoing person she had seen in the interviews that her father had forced her to watch last night, but he seemed like he actually was a nice guy like Kaoru always claimed. She just had to catch him at a good time.

"So, how are you feeling right now?" Haruhi asked as she gave him some plates to set the table with.

"Better I guess." He answered as they made their way to the dining room. "My withdrawals are still bugging me, but they're not as painful as they were this morning."

"I can tell."

Hikaru looked down at her and she cursed at herself for making that comment. They were doing so well and getting along and her fucking smart mouth of course had to ruin everything. However, instead of snapping back like she expected he just made a small hum noise in response, but she couldn't help but notice the small smirk on his face.

"I guess I was a bit of an asshole this morning."

"A bit?" Haruhi almost laughed. "You're lucky I had enough willpower to not throw a fucking chair at you when you left."

His smile only grew at her comment and she got excited that she was finally breaking through a layer of the wall he had up, but soon his smile fell when the front door opened.

"Ooh, something smells amazing." Kaoru's voice rang through the halls.

"We made dinner," Haruhi called out.

"We?"

Kaoru entered the dining room and was bewildered to see his brother standing next to Haruhi in front of a set dinner table. "Woah, did I accidentally enter a parallel universe or something? Didn't Hikaru hate you before I left?"

"Oh fuck off," Hikaru grumbled as he sat down at the table.

"What? You can't blame me for being surprised." Kaoru said as he took a seat next to Hikaru. "Since the day you met Haruhi you despised her. You were literally dreading today all day yesterday and now you two are friends."

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't go that far. We just cooked dinner together."

"Uh, yeah it is. You don't just go from hating someone one moment to cooking right next to them the next. Either you're up to something or that medication the doctor gave you is really working."

Hikaru's glare hardened and he opened his mouth to retort, but Haruhi spoke up before he could.

"Let's just drop it, ok," Haruhi said as she served everyone their food. "We are all getting along pretty well at the moment. I don't want to ruin it."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Kaoru apologized as he loosened his tie. "I was just shocked about the sudden mood change, but I'll drop it."

A faint smile spread across Haruhi's lips as Kaoru stopped. She had been in a similar situation with family members while interning and they would always fight the nurse by saying they weren't doing anything wrong or they were just teasing, but Kaoru seemed to be actually listening to her which meant to her that he actually did want his brother to get better.

Once dinner was finished, Hikaru retreated up to his room while Kaoru stayed down with Haruhi for her last remaining hour.

"Want anything to drink?" Kaoru asked as he walked over to the bar

"What do you got?"

"Whiskey, gin, vodka, anything you like." He smiled.

"Hmm...maybe some sherry. I just want something light tonight."

"You got it."

Haruhi took a seat at a bar stool as Kaoru poured a drink. "Thank you."

"No problem." He took a sip of gin before leaning down on the bar. "So, how was babysitting Hikaru all day?"

"It was...something," Haruhi answered truthfully. "When you first left he wanted nothing to do with me. I even had to take his phone away like a child to get him to answer simple questions and after that, he just left to his room despite my protests. He did sleep all day, so I guess that's better than him sneaking off to do drugs, but it still irritated me."

"That's withdrawn Hikaru for you." Kaoru scoffed.

"But then, after he woke up it was like I was talking to a completely different person. He was laid back and didn't even fight me on anything. He was actually very pleasant company. Well, I guess until you came home that is."

Kaoru let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, we get under each other's skin all the time, but I know that I have to calm down a bit. Especially since he angers more easily because of the withdrawals. But Haruhi, I still want you to be careful." Kaoru warned. "I love Hikaru and want to trust him, but it is strange to me his sudden change of attitude towards you so I want you to keep your guard up. Especially since he also knows I know all of his tricks, so that could've been the reason why his attitude changed back when I got home so I wouldn't suspect anything. I don't want to suspect that he's planning anything, but I just want you to be prepared."

"Don't worry, I plan to."

Haruhi swirled the sherry around in her glass as she noticed Kaoru's demeanor had changed while talking about his brother's withdrawals. It was a touchy subject to talk about, no matter if the person you're talking about has experienced what you're going through. She remembered when her dad's drinking first got out of hand a lot of people were trying to comfort her saying some of their family members were alcoholics as well or similar shit like that, but it never made her feel any better. Sometimes worse because of how many people were dealing with addiction just like her father.

"Tell me how normal Hikaru is. The one who isn't on drugs or suffering from withdrawals."

"Well," Kaoru drawled as he looked up in thought. "He's a sarcastic ass hole who has a short temper and is very lazy."

_'Ok, maybe this wasn't the best idea…'_

But then a small smile crept on his face as he leaned back down on the bar. "But he's also a kind-hearted person when he wants to be and he's really fun to hang with. He also listens to you whenever you have a problem and tries to help out as much as he can…" Tears began to glisten in his eyes as he remembered all the good times he and Hikaru had together, but when he noticed that he was getting emotional in front of Haruhi he cleared his throat as he whipped his eyes. "Sorry."

"No, it's alright." Haruhi consoled. "It's ok to be upset Kaoru. I know you probably hear that all the time and you're most likely to be strong for Hikaru, but you can't keep holding in your emotions or one day the dam is going to break and everything is going to spill out all at once. I should know because I have my own habit of doing that." She gave Kaoru a sad smile. "I'm not saying you have to let your emotions out in front of me, but whenever you're alone and you're feeling a strong emotion just let it out. Can you promise me that?"

Kaoru looked at the liquor in his glass for a few silent moments before taking a sip. "All I can promise is that I can try."

"Well," she gave his arm a comforting squeeze. "That's a start."

* * *

**Kaoru**

Kaoru walked Haruhi out once they finished their drinks, saying that he'll see her tomorrow, then he made his way upstairs. He stopped when he was about to pass Hikaru's room and quietly opened the door to check on him. Just like he thought, Hikaru was asleep again. That medicine must be really tiring him out.

Once he shut Hikaru's door, he went to his own room, but as the door closed he just leaned his back against the door instead of getting ready for bed. He just stood there for a good minute or two until a sob finally tore from his throat as he couldn't hold it back and let the sobs escape. Tears streamed down his face as he slowly slid down on the door until he hit the floor. Even though Hikaru was fine at the moment, he was scared that he'll just relapse again, and this time they won't be able to get him back. He almost lost his brother once when he almost overdosed and he was scared almost every day now that his brother will use again and he's going to overdose for real and won't wake up. He'd do anything to save his brother from that fate. Even wishing that sometimes the roles were reversed that Hikaru didn't have to go through that pain...but he'd be feeling the pain Kaoru was feeling now.

He looked up at the moon shining through the big window, more sobs escaping his throat.

"Please God, let Hikaru try and stay clean. I don't want to lose him."


End file.
